News On Japan

More Japan tourist hot-spots imposing hotel taxes to fund promotions

TOKYO - The practice of imposing municipal accommodation taxes on hotel guests has been spreading across Japan as popular tourist areas look to generate funds to use in promoting themselves to travelers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tokyo is considering increasing its tax for the first time since it became the first area in the country in 2002 to implement the system.

Currently, hotels in the capital charge 100 yen ($0.70) per person per night for stays costing between 10,000 yen and 15,000 yen and 200 yen per night for rooms over 15,000 yen. The collected tax goes toward tourism-related costs, including for maintaining free public Wi-Fi and operating tourism information centers. ...continue reading

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A newly formed tropical depression near Taiwan on June 9th is expected to intensify the seasonal rain front lingering over southwestern Japan, raising the risk of warning-level rainfall across Okinawa and the Amami Islands through around June 11th.

Japan, which records the shortest average sleep duration among OECD countries, is launching new efforts to tackle widespread sleep deprivation, including the opening of specialized sleep disorder departments and programs aimed at improving children's sleep habits through sports and physical activity.

Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.

A prolonged eruption at Sakurajima on June 7th blanketed parts of Kagoshima City in volcanic ash, turning roads gray and prompting long lines of vehicles seeking car washes after a plume of smoke rose 1,300 meters above the crater.

A powerful earthquake struck off Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines at 8:38 a.m. (Japan time) on June 8th, generating tsunami waves across parts of the Pacific, causing building collapses and casualties near the epicenter, and prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue tsunami advisories along a wide stretch of Japan's Pacific coastline before lifting all of them at 4:50 p.m.

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Passengers traveling on JR East services may soon no longer need to insert paper tickets into ticket gates, as the railway operator announced plans to gradually phase out its traditional black-backed paper tickets beginning next spring.

Foreign tourists continue to climb Mount Fuji despite strict access restrictions ahead of the official climbing season, prompting local officials to renew calls for tougher penalties and requiring climbers to pay for rescue operations conducted during the mountain's closed period.

A slope collapse alongside the JR Dosan Line between Tsubojiri and Hashikura stations in Tokushima Prefecture, detected after a rockfall warning system was activated in the early hours of June 8th, has forced the suspension of train services with no timetable yet established for the restoration of operations.

Japan Airlines will once again operate seasonal flights between Chubu Centrair International Airport and the Hokkaido cities of Obihiro and Kushiro throughout August, offering travelers from hot Nagoya a chance to enjoy the region's cooler summer climate.

A prolonged eruption at Sakurajima on June 7th blanketed parts of Kagoshima City in volcanic ash, turning roads gray and prompting long lines of vehicles seeking car washes after a plume of smoke rose 1,300 meters above the crater.

A large bear was captured on security camera footage running through a shopping arcade in central Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, in the early hours of June 7th, as authorities stepped up warnings following a series of bear sightings across the city.

Japan's Meteorological Agency announced on June 7th that the rainy season is believed to have begun in the Tokai and Kanto-Koshin regions, marking the seasonal shift to wetter weather across a broad area of the country.

Yakushima, a world natural heritage island in Kagoshima Prefecture, is marking 60 years since the discovery of Jomon Sugi, the island's iconic cedar tree estimated to be more than 2,000 years old, as concerns grow over the future of the ancient forests that have long supported both tourism and local life.