Chinese skip New-Year trips to Japan
Wall Street Journal -- Feb 09
The number of Chinese tourists traveling to Japan over the Lunar New Year holiday are set to plummet more than 50% from a year earlier amid heightened territorial tension between the two countries.
A tiff over islands both nations claim further escalated this week with the Japanese accusing the Chinese military of twice locking weapons-guiding radar on its naval forces, an assertion that China denied on Friday.
This year, Thailand and South Korea have knocked Japan off the list as China's top international holiday market for the weeklong Lunar New Year break, according to Nasdaq-listed Ctrip.com, one of China's biggest online travel websites.
Tokyo-based Sogo World Travel Ltd., an inbound travel agent for which Chinese visitors account for around a third of business, is feeling the brunt of the travel downturn.
Company President Wang Yatnien said Friday the number of Chinese tourists Sogo World is arranging trips for this Lunar New Year has dropped 50% from a year earlier to around 2,000-3,000.
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May 25
| Nagoya Castle structures restored |
|  At the Nagoya Castle compound in central Japan, restoration work has been completed on the entrance and reception room of the main residential building for the first time in 70 years. (NHK  ) |
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May 24
| Tokyo cops bust casino in Shibuya |
|  Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday raided an Internet casino in Shibuya Ward for offering illegal gambling. (Tokyo Reporter ) |
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May 22
| X Japan waxes lyrical at Madame Tussauds debut |
|  This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times ) |
The government of Japan has bestowed one of that nation's highest honors on a Japanese-American, a former U.S. Soldier and World War II veteran, for his work furthering relationships between the Japanese and Americans. (army.mil 
Osaka District Court accepted a claim on Thursday that losses on betting on horse racing should be deductible from payouts to calculate taxable income. (Jiji Press 
Eighty-year-old Yuichiro Miura has become the oldest person to scale Mount Everest, his management office said Thursday. (Japan Times 
An 18-year-old youth has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder after he allegedly hit a 16-year-old girl in the head with a baseball bat. (Japan Today 
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today 
A man stabbed his ex-wife on a street in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday morning, and then caused a car crash while he was fleeing from the scene. (Japan Today 
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito will visit Spain for seven days from June 10, the government said Tuesday. (Jiji Press 