| Apr 18 | Seven reasons to cycle in Japan |
 What do you think of when you think of Japan? Sushi? Bullet trains? Mount Fuji? Blade Runner-esque streetscapes? Zen temples? Sumo wrestlers? All of these?
But do you think of one of the best places in the world to ride a bike? (podiumcafe.com  ) |
| Apr 17 | Tokyo to try 24-hour bus service, but no 24-hour subway service yet |
 Tokyo Gov Naoki Inose says the metropolitan government is planning to introduce a 24-hour bus service between Roppongi and Shibuya on a trial basis sometime this year.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 17 | Tateyama-Kurobe alpine route opens for tourists |
 Tourists flocked to a high mountain route in central Japan on Tuesday after it opened for the spring sightseeing season. The route is closed in winter. (NHK ) |
| Apr 16 | Mickey and friends cheer crowds on Tokyo Disneyland's 30th anniversary |
 Thousands of fans packed Tokyo Disneyland on Monday to celebrate its 30 years in business.
(Straits Times ) |
| Apr 16 | Touchscreen, on-demand meal feature debuts on Japan Airlines |
 With a few taps on your seat-side remote or TV screen, you can now order meals, drinks and duty free items when flying in business class on some Japan Airlines flights. (cnbc.com ) |
| Apr 12 | Tokyo Disneyland turns 30! |
 Tokyo Disneyland (or "TDL" as it's known to the Japanese) turns 30 on April 15, but like George Clooney, or heck, even the famed Mouse himself, age hasn't withered it a bit. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 11 | How cherry blossoms came into budding US popularity |
 The pink cherry blossoms that explode into bloom every spring in Washington, D.C., are famous around the country, flowering due to a courtesy gift from Japan more than a century ago. But one of the first attempts to send the flowers over to the capital didn't go so well. (livescience.com ) |
| Apr 11 | ANA launches project with AKB48 to boost travel in Asia |
 All Nippon Airways Co. launched a project Wednesday in collaboration with Japanese all-girl pop group AKB48 to push young Asians to travel more. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 11 | Japan's 1st 4-D movie theater to debut in Nagoya April 26 |
 Moviegoers, hold on to your seats--Japan's first so-called 4-D movie theater is coming to Nagoya. (Yomiuri ) |
| Apr 08 | Haneda's domestic passenger terminal completed |
| Tokyo's Haneda Airport opened a new section at its 2nd domestic terminal on Monday, adding a total floor space of 10,000 square meters. (NHK) |
| Apr 08 | 46% yet to try budget airlines: survey |
| A little over 46 percent of the public has never flown on a low-cost carrier and has no plans to, with older people among the most reluctant, a survey says. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 06 | Replica of ancient priest's statue unveiled |
 A replica of a statue of the ancient monk Ganjin has been shown to the media before being put on public display. (NHK ) |
| Apr 06 | 'No question' Hawaii's tourism industry will benefit from Japan stimulus |
 The proposed stimulus to Japan's economy that would double the nation's monetary base by the end of next year is welcome news to the Hawaii tourism industry. (bizjournals.com ) |
| Apr 05 | Number of tourists seen hitting record during Golden Week |
 A record number of people are expected to go traveling during Japan's Golden Week holidays from late April to early May, major travel agency JTB Corp. said Thursday. (Jiji Press ) |
| Apr 05 | Kyoto Palace opens to public |
 The Kyoto Imperial Palace has begun its annual spring viewing.
The former official residence of Japan's emperors opened to the public on Thursday. The palace welcomes visitors for 5 days every spring and autumn. (NHK ) |
| Apr 04 | Train service partly resumes on tsunami-hit Japanese line |
 Service partly resumed Wednesday on a northeastern Japan coastal train line devastated by the March 2011 tsunami. (Jiji Press ) |
| Apr 04 | Yakushima pics to hit Google Street View |
 Panoramic shots taken from mountain trails on Yakushima Island, a World Natural Heritage site, will be available online via Google Inc.'s Street View service, possibly this summer, according to the Japanese unit of the U.S. Internet giant. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 03 | Tokyo Metro finishes rolling out WiFi at its train stations |
| Expanding on deployments that started in February, every station that Tokyo Metro directly manages now lets travelers hop on WiFi, 15 minutes at a time. (engadget.com) |
| Apr 03 | Historic gate in Okinawa restored |
 The most famous gate of the UNESCO world heritage site Shuri Castle in Naha City, Okinawa, has just reopened to the public. (NHK ) |
| Apr 03 | Japan: Masterchef winner Tim Anderson's food tour |
 Tokyo and sushi have a lot in common. They're colourful and exciting, but confusing and challenging at times. For most people, they provide a first taste of Japan. It is almost inevitable that the first Japanese dish we try will be sushi, and the first Japanese city we visit will be Tokyo. (telegraph.co.uk ) |
| Apr 02 | New Kabukiza theater reopens with 1st shows after 3-yr hiatus |
 The Kabukiza theater, the spiritual home of the 410-year-old performing art, reopened Tuesday in Tokyo's Ginza district after a three-year hiatus due to renovation work. (Kyodo ) |
| Apr 02 | Tokyo Sea Life Park exhibits fish with transparent blood |
 The Antarctic Ocean-dwelling ocellated icefish is an anomaly in the natural world, as the only vertebrate with transparent blood. (Kyodo ) |
| Apr 01 | Japan comic superhero back to save 'birthplace' |
 Japanese comic strip football superhero Captain Tsubasa, who has inspired stars such as Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres, has returned from a storybook stint in Spain to save his "birthplace". (Global Post ) |
| Apr 01 | It's all change at Shibuya Station for the Toyoko Line |
 On March 16, the platforms for the Tokyu Toyoko Line at Shibuya Station moved from the chijō nikai (地上二階, second floor) to the chika gokai (地下五階, fifth basement floor) to connect the Toyoko Line with the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line.
(Japan Times ) |
| Mar 31 | Narita Airport operating hours to be extended until midnight in some situations |
 Narita Airport is to be allowed an extension on the landing and take-off times of its evening flights, beginning Sunday. Narita city has granted the Narita Airport operator an extension to fly until midnight under certain circumstances, breaking its long-standing 11 p.m. closing time. (Japan Today ) |
| Mar 28 | Google Street View Cherry Blossom Edition |
 People come from all over the world to get a short glimpse of Japan's blooming cherry blossoms. Google is taking advantage of this worldwide sakura passion to show off their virtual-tour map feature with Street View Sakura Edition, which shows cherry blossom scenes not only in normal pictures but also as 360-degree panoramas. (Japan Pulse) |
| Mar 28 | Google adds street views of Japan nuclear zone |
 Concrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared across the coastline. There isn't a person in sight.
(AP ) |
| Mar 26 | Japan to lift Taiwan-Tokyo flight limit |
| The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said that Japan would lift restrictions on flights from Taiwan to Tokyo starting on Sunday, indicating that plane tickets to the Japanese capital could soon become cheaper. (Taipei Times) |
| Mar 25 | New Kabuki theater shown to media |
 The new Kabukiza theater in Tokyo was shown to the media on Sunday. Reporters saw the stage equipment, dressing rooms and the rehearsal space. (NHK ) |
| Mar 25 | Cherry blossom festival starts in Washington |
 The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival has begun in Washington.
The festival is held around the time cherry trees come into bloom. The trees were presented by the mayor of Tokyo in 1912 as a token of friendship. (NHK ) |
| Mar 25 | Japan Airlines may buy 20 Airbus A350 |
 Japan Airlines Co may buy about 20 A350 jets from Airbus for around 400 billion yen ($4.23 billion), the Nikkei daily reported on Sunday, a move that would reduce its reliance on Boeing. (The Nation ) |
| Mar 24 | Cherry blossoms into full bloom at fastest pace in 4 cities |
 The Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday that cherry blossoms came into full bloom in central Tokyo and the cities of Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Kochi and Yokohama the same day. (Jiji Press ) |
| Mar 24 | Suica, 9 other local rail, bus cards usable across cities |
 A total of 10 regional electronic fare cards operated by Japan's eleven major transport authorities on Saturday became mutually usable in all their operating areas in Japan, enabling holders to travel through Japan's key cities across the country with one card. (Kyodo ) |
| Mar 23 | A-bomb museum to remove human replicas |
 The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has decided to remove from display its life-sized plastic replicas of survivors just after the atomic bombing of the city. (Yomiuri ) |
| Mar 22 | Kitte mall opens doors at JP Tower |
 A seven-floor restaurant and shopping facility opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at the 38-story JP Tower building near Tokyo Station. (Japan Times ) |
| Mar 21 | NPO wants to restore Edo Castle glory |
 The 60-meter-high main tower of Edo Castle that once stood where the Imperial Palace's East Garden is now situated could be rebuilt for the first time in about 360 years, thanks to a civic group hoping to restore the structure and make it a "symbol of Tokyo." (Yomiuri ) |
| Mar 19 | Record breaking snow year in Hokkaido results in epic Spring skiing conditions |
 Niseko has experienced unprecedented amounts of snow this season with over 15 metres of accumulative snowfall at the base of the resort and a current snowpack of over 5 metres at the peak of Mt Annupuri. (NPC ) |
| Mar 19 | Local travelers shunning Japan over Diaoyu Islands dispute |
| The number of Chinese travelers to Japan departing from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in March fell 11 percent year-on-year due to the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, the airport's border inspection authority said Monday. (Global Times) |
| Mar 18 | Amphibious tourist buses put into service in Tokyo |
 Tokyo's first amphibious tourist buses were put into service Sunday, carrying 40 passengers through the city's low eastern side by road before taking to the Naka river during a 100-minute "Tokyo Splash Tour." (The Nation ) |
| Mar 18 | Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort is open until end of Golden Week on May 6th |
 Has been an amazing snow season with the base peaking at an impressive 420cm! We still have over 330cm base up top and there will be some great spring skiing all the way thru. (Nozawa Onsen) |
| Mar 17 | Japan's cherry blossom season starts early |
 Japan's weather agency has announced a record early start of cherry blossom season. (news.com.au ) |
| Mar 17 | 320-kph Hayabusa matches world speed record |
 Hayabusa bullet trains began running Saturday at a new top speed of 320 kph on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, equalling France's TGV as the world's fastest train in operation. (Japan Times ) |
| Mar 16 | Tokyo subway 'fool's wall' comes tumbling down |
 A maddening wall that has long irritated Tokyo commuters by separating passengers on the same platform has finally been torn down. (Wall Street Journal ) |
| Mar 13 | Japan's first cherry blossoms start to bloom in Fukuoka |
 The Fukuoka District Meteorological Observatory said Wednesday that cherry blossoms in this southwestern Japan city's Chuo Ward started to bloom the same day, earlier than in any other places in the nation this season. (Jiji Press ) |
| Mar 12 | Rail link sparks shopping war / Shibuya, Shinjuku lick lips at Fukutoshin-Tokyu Toyoko connection |
 The planned connection between the Tokyu Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro's Fukutoshin Line is intensifying competition among commercial facilities in Shinjuku and Shibuya, both major shopping districts in Tokyo. (Yomiuri ) |
| Mar 11 | Proposal made to turn Fukushima N-crisis site into tourist spot |
 A group led by critic Hiroki Azuma has proposed turning the nuclear crisis site at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and related locations into a tourist spot so that the memories of the accident will not be forgotten. (Jiji Press ) |
| Mar 07 | Japan's main international airport boosts capacity |
 Japan's main international airport on Thursday hiked capacity to allow tens of thousands more flights annually as it faces rising competition and criticism over high landing fees. (Global Post ) |
| Mar 06 | Monument to 'miracle' pine tree unveiled in Japan |
 A monument to the so-called miracle pine tree, the only one to remain standing among tens of thousands on a beach inundated by the 2011 tsunami, was unveiled in the Japanese city of Rikuzentakata on Wednesday. (Voice of Russia ) |
| Mar 05 | Peak bloom dates announced for Washington DC cherry trees |
 Washington's famous cherry tree blooms are expected to be at their best between March 26 and March 30. (app.com ) |
| Mar 04 | Study of a bad boy of Japanese art |
 Is Makoto Aida a misogynist? It seems a fair question. Among his cheerfully scattershot collection at the Mori Art Museum is a series of manga-style paintings called Dog, showing naked young women with severed and bandaged limbs being led around on a leash. (South China Morning Post ) |