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Prepaid cards make travel convenient for tourists
Visitors to Japan can go cashless while traveling across the country, now that major rail operators have released prepaid, reloadable transportation cards, called IC cards, for tourists. Read more
Visitors to Japan can go cashless while traveling across the country, now that major rail operators have released prepaid, reloadable transportation cards, called IC cards, for tourists. Read more
Drawing lessons from one of the worst disasters in the nation’s history, a team of Japanese researchers is developing an artificial intelligence-based tsunami forecasting system set for release by March that could help limit loss of life and property in future calamities. Read more
With the Rugby World Cup drawing about 500,000 visitors to Japan, attitudes have been split among public bath operators over whether to accept foreign customers with tattoos. Read more
The Tosa Reihoku Festival in Shikoku, held in the northern Kochi Prefecture renowned for its majestic natural scenery, comprises a wide range of outdoor activities through the end of the year. Read more
The smuggling of bobtail lizards (also known as shingleback lizards), popular as pets in Asian countries, is rampant, and several Japanese citizens involved in the crime have been caught. Read more
53-year-old Kenji Yamase doesn’t fit the traditional image of a hikikomori, but then perceptions of Japan’s social recluses are changing. Read more
Amid the seasonal heat, there’s such a craze for kakigori shaved ice that an increasing number of shops are turning to natural ice. Read more
The average life expectancy of Japanese citizens in 2018 reached record highs of 87.32 years for women and 81.25 for men, an increase of about five years for both sexes over the course of 30 years. Read more
Applications for luxury ticket packages for the 2020 Tokyo Games, some costing millions of yen, were opened to Japan residents last month. Read more
Ritsuko Shimazaki, 58, occasionally takes a train ride to visit a coffee shop near the upscale district of Omotesando in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. Read more
Colorful geta sandals made with paulownia wood are created ahead of the summer fireworks season in Numata, Japan, which used to be a flourishing logging area. Read more
The government plans to offer tourism packages that combine advanced medical services with sightseeing, aimed at foreign visitors who go to Japan for medical purposes. Read more
Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, campaigns are underway to encourage people to stand on both sides of an escalator instead of the current custom of standing to one side. Read more
The caller read out the numbers at a speed evoking an auctioneer on fast-forward, each multidigit figure blurring into the next. Read more
Japanese children are studying abroad at younger ages, due partly to growing interest in English education, with some parents accompanying their children on their overseas stays. Read more
The Japan-made K supercomputer, one of the world’s top supercomputers, which has been in operation for eight years at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe, ended its run last month. Read more
Since the Trans-Pacific Partnership went into effect, a wider variety of imported beef has been making its way onto the tables of Japanese households. Read more
First-class Hawaii passengers on All Nippon Airways can enjoy a Japanese red wine made in Nagano through November, as part of the airline’s in-flight service for first-class passengers on North American and Honolulu routes. Read more
The city of Saijo in Ehime Prefecture faces the Seto Inland Sea to the north and Mt. Ishizuchi, the tallest mountain in western Japan, to the south. Read more
A tunnel might seem like a most unlikely spot for a concert, but the Minatogawa Zuido tunnel in Kobe has become just that — a popular place for jazz bands, brass bands and choruses to perform. Read more
Japan had more than 30 million foreign visitors in 2018, but its nightlife is not as extensive as those in other nations. Read more