A new travel style known as “Otetutabi,” which combines short-term work with tourism, is rapidly gaining attention across Japan as both travelers and local businesses search for new ways to address changing social and economic realities.
The route dispute surrounding the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Osaka has been thrown back into uncertainty, with the long-discussed "Obama-Kyoto Route" effectively returned to square one as ruling coalition lawmakers consider eight alternative plans, including a route via Maibara Station in Shiga Prefecture.
Traditional rice planting was held on May 27th in Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture, where women dressed as saotome carefully planted Koshihikari rice seedlings as traditional rice planting songs echoed across the historic village.
People caught littering in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward will face on-the-spot fines of 2,000 yen starting June 1st under revised local regulations aimed at tackling a surge in street garbage around the busy entertainment district.
Cows graze peacefully beneath the lightly snow-capped slopes of Mount Fuji at Nakatomi Farm on the Asagiri Plateau in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, where a picturesque rural landscape resembling a scene from a storybook has become a major attraction on social media.
Skymark on May 25th unveiled its new Boeing 737-8 aircraft from the Boeing MAX series, becoming the first domestic airline in Japan to introduce the model. The aircraft will begin commercial operations on May 28th.
A string of bear sightings and suspected attacks in western Tokyo is prompting urgent action from local authorities, with schools in Hachioji preparing students for possible encounters and concerns mounting that animals once associated with remote mountain regions are moving deeper into populated areas.
Two historic private residences in Hyogo Prefecture dating back to the Muromachi period are expected to be designated as National Treasures, marking the first time folk houses in Japan will receive the status.