The rickshaw men in Tokyo are adding English-speaking staff, a sure sign Japan is bracing for a return of tourists from abroad. Japan’s border controls to curb the spread of coronavirus infections began gradually loosening earlier this month. That’s great news for Yusuke Otomo, owner of Daikichi, a kimono rental shop in Asakusa, an old district of Tokyo famous for its temples, quaint restaurants and rickshaw rides. He can barely contain his excitement. A rickshaw puller carries his customers around Tokyo's Asakusa area famous for sightseeing, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae) “Those were a hard three years. But we managed to endure until today. And after such an experience, to think people from abroad can finally come back is simply thrilling,” Otomo told The Ass...
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Japan baked under scorching temperatures for a fourth successive day on Tuesday, as the capital's heat broke nearly 150-year-old records for June and authorities warned power supply remained tight enough to raise the spectre of cuts. The heatwave comes less than two weeks before a national election in which prices, including the cost of electricity, are among key issues picked by voters in opinion polls that show the government's approval rating slipping - with politicians including Tokyo's governor urging power price cuts. Passersby are seen through a heat haze during hot weather at Sugamo district in Tokyo, Japan June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato Temperatures in the capital hit 35.1 C by 1 p.m local time on Tuesday (0400 GMT), after three successive days of temperatures topping...
Read MoreJapanese adventurer Kenichi Horie at 83 just became the oldest person in the world to complete a solo, nonstop voyage across the Pacific Ocean — and he says he is still “in the middle of my youth” and not done yet. Horie returned home as he crossed the Kii Strait off Japan’s western coast early Saturday, completing his trans-Pacific solo voyage in 69 days after leaving a yacht harbor in San Francisco in late March. On Sunday, after spending the night on his 19-foot (6-meter) -long Suntory Mermaid III just off the coast, Horie was towed into his home port of Shin Nishinomiya, where he was cheered by local residents and supporters and banners that read: “Welcome back, Mr. Kenichi Horie!” Japanese Kenichi Horie gets celebrated at a yacht harbor in Nishinomiya, western Japan, Sunday,...
Read MoreJapan's easing of a two-year ban on foreign tourists seeks to balance the enormous economic importance of tourism with concerns that travellers would trigger a COVID outbreak, insiders say. Under the decision, Japan will allow in a limited number of foreign tourists on package tours starting June 10. Last week a few "test tours", mainly of overseas travel agents, started to arrive. Relaxing some of the world's strictest pandemic border measures required months of pressure from travel and tourism executives, three insiders told Reuters, describing both the government's fears of public backlash if infections spiked and the industry's concerns of an economic wipeout. FILE - Tourists in traditional Japanese kimonos walk in Asakusa district in Tokyo, July 27, 2020 (AP Photo/Eugene Hos...
Read MoreJapan will open its borders to foreign tourists in June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago, but only for package tours for now, the prime minister said Thursday. Beginning June 10, Japan will allow the entry of people on tours with fixed schedules and guides, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Tourists from areas with low COVID-19 infection rates who have received three vaccine doses will be exempt from testing and quarantine after entry. FILE - People walk along a pedestrian crossing in the tourist district of Asakusa, near the landmark Tokyo Skytree tower in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, July 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Kantaro Komiya, File) Japan this week is hosting small experimental package tours from four countries, Australia, S...
Read MoreJapan said on Tuesday it would start conducting "test tourism" in the form of limited package tours in May as a way of gathering information prior to a full re-opening of the country to tourism. Though tourism was a major pillar of Japan's economy, tourists have not been permitted to enter since it adopted strict border controls in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Regulations have been loosened slightly to allow students and some business travellers to enter. But, individual tourists remain barred despite calls from industry leaders hoping to restart tourism to take advantage of the yen, which has fallen to 20-year lows. FILE PHOTO: Tourists wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are seen at Asakusa district in Toky...
Read MoreJapan plans to ease COVID 19-related border restrictions by lifting its entry ban for foreign nationals from 106 countries including the United States, Britain and France on Friday, the government said. Tokyo has been gradually relaxing pandemic-induced curbs but the loosened border regime does not mean a full reopening to tourists. The foreign ministry said in an update on Wednesday that foreigners from the 106 countries would not be subject to denial of permission to enter Japan from Friday, but foreigners with tourist purposes were still not allowed into the country. Japan closed its borders to most foreign travellers from the early days of the pandemic in 2020 and only recently accepted a trickle of students and business people into the country. Many other developed count...
Read MoreA research group at the Politecnico di Milano analysed the orientation of ancient Japanese tombs – the so-called Kofun, using satellite images. This study has never been carried out before A research group at the Politecnico di Milano analysed the orientation of ancient Japanese tombs – the so-called Kofun. This study has never been carried out before, due to the very large number of monuments and the fact that access to these areas is usually forbidden. For these reasons, high-res satellite imagery was used. The results show that these tombs are oriented towards the arc of the rising sun, the Goddess Amaterasu that the Japanese emperors linked to the mythical origin of their dynasty. Locations of the sites considered in this study (image courtesy Google Earth Pro, edited by the aut...
Read MoreEuropean Union governments agreed on Wednesday to add Japan to their small list of countries from which they will allow non-essential travel, while holding off until at least mid-June for British tourists, EU sources said on Tuesday. Ambassadors from the EU's 27 countries approved the addition of Japan at a meeting on Wednesday, with the change to take effect in the coming days. People make a toast in a beer garden as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions continue to ease, in Vienna, Austria May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger EU countries are recommended gradually to lift travel restrictions for the current seven countries on the list - Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. Individual EU countries can still opt to demand a ne...
Read Moreजापान में बसंत की कल्पना करें तो खुद-ब-खुद चेरी ब्लॉसम का ख्याल आता है। कोई एक फूल किसी जगह के लिए कितनी अहमियत रखता है कि उसका खिलना पूरे देश में महीनों तक जश्न की वजह रहता है। जापान का चेरी ब्लॉसम फूल इसका उदाहरण है। लेकिन इसका इस साल जल्दी खिल जाना लोगों की चिंता का सबब बन गया है। यह कोई मामूली बात नहीं, लेकिन क्या यह किसी बड़े बदलाव का संकेत है! फूलों के खिलने का मौसम है। आखिरकार धरती के ऊपरी आधे हिस्से, जिसे हम लोग उत्तरी गोलार्ध कहते हैं, में ये बसंत के दिन हैं। सतह पर पसरी ठंड जैसे-जैसे पिघलने लगती और उसे सूरज की तपिश मिलती है तो फूल अंकुरित होने लगते हैं। ऐसे में स्वाभाविक ही है कि खिलते फूल पूरे माहौल में उल्लास व रंगत भर देते हैं। फाइल फोटोः जापान में हर तरफ चेरी ब्लॉसम का रंग कोई खास फूल कितनी अहमियत रखता है कि उसका खिलना पूरे देश में महीनों तक जश्न की वजह रहता है, जाप...
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