SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

tourism (Page 45)

Stunning Saitama rice field art snags Guinness record

Mike
Nov 2, 2015
Tweet

You may have already heard about rice field art: Those complex works that use dyed or naturally colored rice grains to create gorgeous patterns, or that turn the whole rice field into a canvas for a massive “painting” that can only be fully appreciated from the skies. Also, because Japan, Ultraman is sometimes involved.

But the phenomenon, once a niche practice for small Japanese cities that otherwise had nothing in the way of tourist destinations, has caught on to the point that the Guinness Book has actually recorded, for posterity, the current world’s largest work of rice field art.

Japan
(art • rice field art • Saitama • tourism)

Kagawa’s Udon Monster joins Japan’s other local kaiju to help save the environment

Oona McGee
Oct 29, 2015

Did you know that each of Japan’s 47 prefectures has a designated monster that represents their region? The larger-than-life beings were born from the “Gotouchi Kaiju” (“Local Monsters”) multimedia project helmed by Professor Hiroshi Sagae, who’s worked on a number of kaiju-centric films such as Godzilla Millenium, Ultraman Saga and Gamera the Brave.

Now there’s a special crowdfunding campaign that’s calling on the masses to support the plight of the monsters as they strive to protect nature and promote greenery in their towns. Patrons who contribute to their favourite beast will be rewarded with cards, T-shirts or even a 3-D kaiju figurine but best of all, the funds raised for each prefecture will go towards supporting environmental projects in the region.

Japan
(47 prefectures • art • crowdfunding • funny • Godzilla • kaiju • monsters • tourism • travel)

Thinking about moving to Nara? Here are eight things that may surprise you!

Preston Phro
Oct 27, 2015

Moving to Japan from another country can be a bit of a culture shock. Some handle the transition without any problems, and others can find it initially overwhelming. But it’s easy to forget that Japan isn’t one giant monolith, and the various prefectures can be wildly different—so much so that moving to a new prefecture can bring plenty of surprises even for those born and raised in Japan!

A great example is one of our own RocketNew24 Japan writers, Masami, who shares some of the things that surprised her after moving to Nara. Here are nine that may resonate with you!

Japan
(deer • Living in Japan • Nara • Nara Prefecture • sightseeing • tourism)

Survey reveals the top five times Japanese travelers realise just how Japanese they are

Meg Murphy
Oct 18, 2015

Whether we like to admit it or not, where we were brought up has a huge impact on the person we become. From our way of thinking to what foods we prefer, it’s hard to deny that our environment shapes our personal identity.

While some people come from nations that are veritable melting pots of backgrounds, languages, and cultures, others come from a country with much more homogeneity. Japan is one such country, and its people have a strong sense of identity—though they may not readily admit it.

But often during a trip to a foreign country, there comes a moment of self-realization where they become aware of just how Japanese they really are. A recent survey asked Japanese travelers to identify the five moments they felt most Japanese when abroad. The results are really quite telling.

Japan
(culture • food • Japanese • survey • tourism • travel)

Governor of Tokyo unveils new city logo, internet responds with questions about plagiarism again

Oona McGee
Oct 14, 2015

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe revealed the capital city’s new logo at a press conference in the nation’s capital on Friday, and the simple design, featuring the one-line catchphrase “&TOKYO”, is already in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The logo unveiling was met with a heightened level of scrutiny following the plagiarism scandal which resulted in the withdrawal of the official Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo recently, and it turns out that netizens are now worried about a recurrence of events. The distinctive white ampersand enclosed in a circle has been discovered online in a similar black, white and red configuration currently in use by another organisation, an insurance and commercial litigation company in New Zealand.

Japan
(design • logo • Masuzoe • Olympics • Tokyo • Tokyo Governor • tourism • Yayoi Kusama)

Saitama now offering free SIM cards to foreign tourists

Oona McGee
Oct 6, 2015

Japan is well-known for its unique hospitality culture, which partially stems from the concept of “ichigo-ichie” (lit. “one time, one meeting”), the tea master’s philosophy that every encounter is a once-in-a-lifetime moment to be cherished.

Now, Japan is flexing its hospitality muscles in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by rolling out new services and products to help visitors and reduce the stress that comes with travelling in a country where things can sometimes get lost in translation. The latest display of impressive hospitality comes from Saitama City, where the city council is offering free SIM cards to its foreign visitors.

Japan
(free • Saitama • SIM card • tourism • travel)

Ads for JR’s “Seishun 18” rail pass celebrate the isolated beauty of Japan’s most far-flung stations

Mike
Jul 30, 2015

It seems so easy to plan an entire Japan vacation around a single tour of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The mega city has just about everything a tourist could possibly want to see, from Akihabara’s blinding neon to the breathtaking skyline of Yokohama, to the quiet, old-world charm (and weird poop sculpture) of Asakusa.

But to not venture away from Tokyo, to Japan’s more far-flung and lesser-known destinations is to rob yourself of the grander Japan experience, and Japan Rail (JR) has long sought to encourage visitors, both domestic and foreign, to wander off the beaten path with the Seishun 18 unlimited rail pass. And, if the idea of unlimited access to JR’s vast and far-reaching network of tracks isn’t enough to inspire your sense of adventure on your next Japan visit, perhaps these ads for the Seishun 18 rail pass, which depict the isolated beauty of some of Japan’s most remote train stations, will be.

Japan
(ads • JR • Kyoto • photos • Seishun 18 • tourism • trains • travel)

Things you won’t believe Chinese tourists are buying in Japan: drugstore edition

KK Miller
Jul 15, 2015

Often when you visit another country, one thing on everyone’s to-do list is a little shopping. It’s always interesting to see what products a foreign country offers that you can’t find back home. It’s also weird and fun to see the products you are familiar with presented in a different way.

One of the main reasons Chinese tourists visit Japan is to shop. It’s not uncommon to see a Chinese visitor enter a store and drop the equivalent of hundreds of U.S. dollars – usually in cash – on seemingly everyday products like clothes or electronics, but in some cases store shelves are picked completely clean.

But what’s on these tourists’ shopping lists? Here are 11 “godly” pharmacy products that Chinese visitors simply have to buy when they visit Japan.

China, Japan
(drugstores • medicine • shopping • souvenir • tourism • travel)

Japan’s Top 10 Scenic Train Trips–according to two “densha otaku” train guides

Amy Chavez
Jul 2, 2015

Greg Cope and Ken Mitchell have been riding Japan’s railways for over 30 years. “When I first started to travel around Japan,” recalls Greg, “I was struck by the fact that Japan not only has one of the most efficient railway systems in the world, but they have myriad types of railways, from new to old, conservative design to outlandish.”

On one of Greg’s succeeding trips back to Japan, he asked his train aficionado friend Ken, who had seen a lot of Japan during a visit in 1967, to come along. “I devised an itinerary…incorporating a variety of different trains. The trip that I had nutted out from the timetable turned out well and I was hooked on Japan’s railway system,” says Ken.

Greg and Ken wanted to share their Japan rail experiences with others, so to achieve this goal they started Trainaway Tours out of Australia in 1998. These guys are living the train otaku dream, so when RocketNews24 started looking into Japan’s best, most scenic railways, we went straight to them for recommendations. From JR lines to small private rails, tourist trains to steam locomotives, let’s look at their picks for the top 10 train trips in Japan.

Japan
(JR • scenery • tourism • trains • travel)

Korean Officials to foreign tourists: “If you contract MERS, we’ll give you $3,000!”

Scott Wilson
Jun 17, 2015

As you may have heard, there’s an epidemic in South Korea. Since last month, more than 150 people have contracted the deadly MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, among whom 19 have died.

As a result, foreign tourists in South Korea have been leaving the country in droves, and the usually-thriving tourism industry has been suffering. To try and help alleviate matters, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has made a somewhat unusual decision: they will pay tourists US$3,000 if they contract MERS while in South Korea.

Korea
(disease • epidemic • Korean tourism • MERS • money • tourism)

Taipei introduces taxi tours and 24-hour toll-free interpretation services for foreign tourists

Joan Coello
May 28, 2015

Hello, Rocketeers! Have our recent posts on cute Taiwanese girls, guys and pets gotten you wanderlusting for the fascinating lands of Taiwan? Well, if the language barrier is a concern, we have some exciting information!

Taipei’s city government has been working with the leading local taxi companies to roll out some city tour packages and 24-hour interpretation services to make travelling around Taipei easier for foreign tourists. All the details after the break!

Taiwan
(foreign language • Taipei • taxi • tourism • travel)

Forget Tokyo’s giant Gundam statue, we wanna visit this plastic-bottle Gundam in Tochigi!

Fran W
Apr 10, 2015

We’re pretty big fans of Odaiba’s full-scale Gundam statue, which towers over Tokyo Bay at an incredible 18 metres tall. But there’s nothing quite like homespun charm, and we’re equally delighted to discover the existence of a plastic bottle version, built single-handedly by one enthusiastic sake shop owner in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

Our friends over at off-the-beaten-track Japan travel site Another Tokyo went to check it out last month, and this is what they found.

Japan
(Another Tokyo • attraction • Gundam • interesting • photos • Tochigi Pre • tourism • travel)

Noto Peninsula shows us how to keep warm during the Japanese winter 【Photos】

Cara Clegg
Feb 5, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to travel to the Noto Peninsula, an outcrop that sticks out from Japan’s main island of Honshu into the Sea of Japan. The area relies heavily on fishing and agriculture, and is famous for its delicious seafood and beautiful scenery.

Noto’s not so popular as a tourist destination in winter, but I went along on a trip to see what the place has to offer when it’s coooold outside. As it turns out, Noto out of season is about as chilly as I’d expected. But it was also very cool.

Japan
(Japan • Japanese food • Noto Peninsula • off the beaten path • tourism • travel)

View beautiful photos of Kyoto’s Kiyomizu Temple any time on their new instagram account

Evie Nyan
Jan 17, 2015

Kiyomizu Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Higashiyama, Kyoto. Kiyomizu, which means “pure water,” takes its name from the waterfall which runs off the nearby hillside. However, it is perhaps most famous for its grand viewing veranda, a sort of stage on tall pillars that juts out of the hillside and commands beautiful views of the surrounding area. But a single visit to Kiyomizu doesn’t do it justice – you need to see it against a backdrop of cherry blossoms in springtime, bright red leaves in the autumn, and of course there’s the yearly illuminations! Luckily for those of us who don’t live in Kyoto, Kiyomizu Temple has set up its own dedicated Instagram account, and the photos that they’ve been uploading are completely breathtaking!

Japan
(Buddhism • kiyomizu • Kyoto • photography • temple • tourism • UNESCO)

Why is Japan such an unpopular tourist destination?

Cara Clegg
Jan 16, 2015

You would think that a country like Japan, rich as it is in both traditional culture and technical innovation, as well as plenty of weird and wacky things you’ll never see elsewhere, would be a huge hit with tourists. But as it turns out, Japan is actually not such a popular destination for people traveling abroad. Join us after the jump to find out why.

Japan
(Japan sightseeing • Japan tourism • tourism • travel)

Around Japan in 22 days…on a bus! (Yes, it has a toilet.)

Preston Phro
Jan 15, 2015

One of the hardest parts about visiting Japan is deciding where to go, especially if you have only a limited time. Obviously, everyone wants to hit up Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, but that often means missing out on places like Nara and Aomori. If only there were a way you could get on a bus and just let someone take to every prefecture in the country…

Well, if you have about US$5,000 and 22 days, pack your bags, because that’s exactly what Club Tourism is offering this year!

Japan
(bus • tourism • travel)

Town in Hiroshima now offering exciting… snow-shovelling tours?

Meg Murphy
Dec 30, 2014

To someone raised in an area that receives little to no snow in the wintertime, living in a snowy region might seem like a lot of fun, what with all the sledding, snowball fights, and easy access to ski resorts. But it’s not all fun and games when you need to shovel through feet of snow just to leave your house or to get your car out of your driveway.

But maybe to someone who hasn’t grown up having to shovel heaps of snow each winter, snow-shoveling could be a fun experience too. At least, that’s what the Akiota-cho Sightseeing Association in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, seems to be hoping as they try to lure city-dwellers to their 4th annual “Heavy Snow Region Experience Tour“. However, this tour has some net-users questioning why anyone would want to pay 5,000 yen (approximately US$50) to shovel snow for someone else.

Japan
(snow • tourism • volunteer • weird • winter)

Coming to Harajuku? Check out this new tourist booth for maps, Wi-Fi, crêpes and more!

Scott R Dixon
Dec 23, 2014

Long before Gwen Stefani was inspired by the Tokyo neighborhood, Harajuku’s status as the center of Japanese fashion and pop culture had been well solidified. From strange footwear to unbearably cute cuisine, a visit to Harajuku is never dull and is a must-see for any tourist coming to Tokyo.

But the crowded streets, small shops and the language barrier might be a bit daunting for a first-time visitor. So to make that trip more worthwhile, a tourist organization is opening up a bilingual information booth in the heart of Harajuku to make sure visitors get the most out of their time in the exciting neighborhood.

Japan
(business • fashion • Harajuku • moshi moshi nippon • pop culture • Tokyo • tourism)

New Guess ad campaign features Japan in all her stunning glory

Oona McGee
Nov 19, 2014

If you’ve ever visited Japan and fallen in love with its beauty and culture, prepare to be swept off your feet again with the latest ad campaign from Guess.

Shot by famed Chinese photographer Chen Man, the photos take us on a journey through cherry blossoms and tea houses, featuring girls with samurai swords and parasols.

Japan
(fashion • photography • tourism)

Japan’s “cat island” Aoshima is being overwhelmed by tourists

Krista Rogers
Nov 13, 2014

Aoshima (青島), which is incorporated into Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture, is a small, unpretentious island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan (which one of our English-language correspondents has covered extensively). However, the 0.5 km² island does have one unique claim to fame–it’s known as a paradise for cats and cat lovers.

We actually featured Aoshima on our list of the 11 top cat islands in Japan back in April. After one Japanese Twitter user shared photos of the island’s hordes of cats online, Aoshima has experienced an unprecedented influx of tourists, leaving the local residents baffled and unprepared to deal with the flood of people streaming in.