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July 02, 2026
 

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TOURISM

An image of an integrated resort to be constructed on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2025
Japan to begin selection process for new casino resort sites
Under the integrated resort implementation law, up to three locations can host integrated resort facilities, leaving two slots available.
A Chinese tourist group stands near the Sensoji temple, a popular sightseeing spot in Tokyo's Asakusa area, on Nov. 18.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2025
China orders travel agencies to slash group tours to Japan as dispute festers
One agency has been told to lower the frequency of such tours to about 60% of previous levels, while another has been urged to cancel all sales.
This year, Asian countries' relatively lenient approach to nuisance streamers has been replaced by legal charges and potential jail time.
LIFE / Digital / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 27, 2025
In 2025, Asia got tough on nuisance streamers. Japan did not.
After years of leniency, Asian countries are imposing serious penalties on transgressive online personalities — with Japan lagging behind.
Visitors flock to a Christmas market with a Christmas pyramid — a German decoration — Tuesday night at Tokyo's Shiba Park.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 24, 2025
Christmas markets are having a jolly moment in Japan
Heavily inspired by German markets, Christmas markets have become one of Japan’s favorite ways to celebrate the holiday over the last decade.
China Eastern Airlines is the biggest operator of flights between China and Japan, leaving it more exposed than China Southern Airlines and Air China to a pullback in demand.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2025
Chinese airlines see profit hopes dim as Japan tensions dent demand
China ordered curbs on flights to Japan and other economic retaliatory measures after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments related to Taiwan.
The Japan Tourism Agency aims to disperse inbound tourists through regional tourism promotion and curb overtourism in major cities.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2025
Japan eyes intensive aid to promote regional tourism
With the program, the agency aims to disperse inbound tourists through regional tourism promotion and curb overtourism in major cities.
Tourists visit Fujikawaguchiko for sightseeing on May 20, 2024. The total number of foreign entrants to Japan reached approximately 40.34 million in 2024, the highest figure on record.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 22, 2025
Advisory council calls for digital border controls and tighter immigration oversight
The advisory council for immigration policy said in its report that digitalization was one of the core pillars of future immigration policy in Japan.
Kappabashi, Tokyo's "Kitchen Town," is home to friendly faces like shopkeeper Mieko Uematsu. At Mantou, she sells a variety of traditional condiments, as well as knickknacks based on the "kappa" (a mythical water goblin).
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 19, 2025
From aprons to sake cups: What to buy in Tokyo’s Kappabashi
Need some last-minute Christmas gift ideas? We get shoppers in “Kitchen Town” to show us what they bought.
Japan’s year-end and new year outbound travel is projected to reach 1 million, up 31.5% from last year and about 90% of prepandemic levels, according to a JTB survey.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2025
One million Japanese estimated to travel abroad during year-end holidays
Travelers are expected to take advantage of a longer break this year, boosting demand for long-haul destinations such as Hawaii and Europe.
The iconic New York Bar on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo retains all the cosmopolitan charm it exuded before the hotel's 19-month-long renovation.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 18, 2025
Park Hyatt Tokyo reopens, and nothing’s been lost in renovation
Despite a top-to-bottom refurbishment, the iconic Shinjuku hotel has reopened with all the cosmopolitan charm it had before.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2025
Takaichi says Japan ‘always open’ to dialogue with China
“China is an important neighbor for Japan, and we need to build constructive and stable relationships,” the prime minister told a news conference.
Tourists at Sensoji, Asakusa. Chinese visitor statistics are mixed after China warned against travel to Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2025
Chinese visitor numbers up on year and down on month in November
The monthly statistics were the first to be released since China warned its citizens on Nov. 14 not to travel to Japan following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan.
Japan hopes to harness large-scale data obtained via its next-generation electronic toll collection system for a variety of purposes, including easing traffic congestion.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
Japan to broaden use of ETC’s driving data for disaster response and tourism
The government aims to harness large-scale data from ETC 2.0 for a variety of public and economic purposes, including easing traffic congestion and improving disaster response.
Activist groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, MoveOn.org, Oxfam and the ACLU, hold a rally in front of the White House to mark the anniversary of the first travel and refugee ban instituted by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington in January 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2025
Trump adds seven countries, including Syria, to full travel ban list
Tuesday’s move also bans citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Laos, Sierra Leone and those holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents.
A poster put up in Tokyo's Chuo Ward asks tour operators to refrain from guiding tourists to the Tsukiji Outer Market toward the end of the year to avoid overcrowding.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 15, 2025
Tsukiji market urges tourists to avoid visiting at year-end to ease congestion
The Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai tourist facility, meanwhile, welcomes tourists throughout the year-end and New Year holiday season.
Mount Fuji observed from Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture in October
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2025
Government eyes giving prefectures power to coordinate scenic landscape protection
To implement the move, the ministry plans to submit a bill revising the landscape law to next year’s ordinary session of parliament, the sources said.
A road collapsed due to the earthquake in Aomori Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2025
Cancellations of lodging bookings on rise amid quake advisory
The advisory warns that a possible subsequent major temblor may strike near northeastern Japan, calling on residents to take disaster prevention measures.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 26. Along with social media handles, the U.S. would require all travelers who must complete an Electronic System for Travel Authorization form to submit email addresses used over the last 10 years and names, birth dates, residences and the birthplaces of parents, siblings, children and spouses.
WORLD
Dec 12, 2025
U.S. travel group and foreign tourists leery of Trump plan to vet social media
The change, expected to take effect on Feb. 8, would require travelers to the U.S. from countries in the visa waiver program to submit social media data.
The Olympia Dream Seto ferry is set to use autonomous navigation technology on a route between the city of Okayama and Shodoshima, an island in Kagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2025
World’s first autonomous passenger ship to start service in Japan
The initiative is aimed at addressing ship crew shortages and reducing accidents caused by human error.
People walk on a back street in Akihabara, Tokyo, on Nov. 13.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2025
LDP compiles proposals to address crimes by foreign nationals
The package, among other things, calls on the National Police Agency to secure a list of interpreters to be dispatched to prefectural police departments to speed up investigations.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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