Asahi Beer Sales Fall 20 Percent in November as Declines Deepen

TOKYO, Dec 11 (News On Japan) - Asahi Beer announced on December 10th that its sales in November fell by roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, marking a deeper decline than in October, as the company continues to feel the impact of a system outage caused by a cyberattack on Asahi Group Holdings in late September that forced restrictions on shipments of gift items such as year-end offerings, while a spike in orders when the company resumed taking requests in October is also believed to have contributed to the downturn.

The company said it aims to return shipments to normal levels by February next year.

Source: テレ東BIZ

Kyoto Raises Lodging Tax as Peak Travel Season Begins

Kyoto City significantly raised its lodging tax from March 1st, increasing the maximum charge per person per night from 1,000 yen to as much as 10,000 yen, in a move aimed at tackling overtourism and funding the preservation of cultural assets, even as questions remain about its impact on visitors and the local economy.

Foreign Visitors and Ex-Rescuer Pull 80-Year-Old Woman From Hakuba Crashed Car

A former emergency responder and foreign tourists worked together to rescue a woman in her 80s who was trapped inside an overturned light vehicle in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture.

Tokyo Metro Begins Touchless Ticket Gate Trial

Tokyo Metro and Toshiba have launched Japan’s first demonstration test allowing passengers to pass through ticket gates without touching them by using their smartphones’ Bluetooth function.

Himeji Castle Hikes Admission Fee for Non-Residents

The admission fee for the World Heritage-listed Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, was revised on March 1st for the first time in 11 years, introducing a dual pricing system that significantly raises costs for visitors from outside the city.

Australian Girl, 8, Dies After Snowmobile Overturns in Hakuba

An eight-year-old Australian girl died after a snowmobile overturned in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, at around 11 a.m. on February 28th, with authorities investigating the cause of the accident.

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ANA’s New President Says Reform of Domestic Flights Is Urgent

All Nippon Airways held a press conference to announce a change in leadership, with Executive Vice President Hisaichi Hirasawa set to assume the role of president on April 1st, stating that sweeping reforms to the airline’s struggling domestic operations are urgently needed as profitability continues to deteriorate.

Yen’s Purchasing Power Falls to One-Third Over 30 Years

As price hikes spread from fast food to daily necessities and households grapple with rising living costs, the steady depreciation of the yen has emerged as a central driver of inflation, with multiple indicators showing that the currency’s purchasing power has fallen to roughly one-third of its mid-1990s peak, underscoring how three decades of economic stagnation, prolonged monetary easing and renewed fiscal expansion have left Japan far more vulnerable to imported inflation than other major economies.

Mysterious AI Startup Akari Soars Past 100 Billion Yen

An AI startup that emerged almost overnight, Akari had long been known only to insiders due to its limited media exposure, but after receiving investment from Mitsubishi Electric at the end of January and seeing its corporate valuation surge past 100 billion yen, the Tokyo-born venture has rapidly positioned itself as a leading unicorn candidate in Japan’s AI sector.