On July 7, 2026, Noto Airport became the world's first airport to carry the Pokemon name. All 111 Flying-type Pokemon and a giant Pikachu now anchor a recovery push for the quake-hit Noto Peninsula. We unpack the airport's own damage-and-revival story, Japan's distinctive model of rebuilding through beloved characters, and how to visit.
MIYAKO GALAXY-DOME, billed as Japan's first facility to pair a working observatory with an LED-dome planetarium, opened in June 2026 on Kurima Island, Okinawa. Southern Cross skies, live telescope-to-dome projection, prices and how to visit, explained for overseas readers.
Studio Ghibli is opening a Zen exhibition in Kyoto, running October 3 to December 6, 2026, at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. Built around The Boy and the Heron, it traces back to a book of dialogues between producer Toshio Suzuki and three Zen monks. Here is what Zen actually is, and the surprising things it shares with Ghibli's films.
Avani makes its Japan debut in the former Kyoto Shimbun headquarters: a 240-room hotel in central Kyoto, opening around fiscal 2029, with a restaurant in the old printing-press hall.
A free Pokemon footbath opened in May to help quake-hit Noto recover. Less than two months later, three of its seven statues (Vaporeon, Psyduck and Gyarados) are damaged, and one has prompted a police report. A look at what happened and how Japan is reacting.
Foreign visitors spent ¥2.07 trillion (~$12.9B) on food in Japan in 2025, 21.9% of all inbound spending. What 42 million tourists eat, the dietary-diversity gap, and how to plan a gourmet trip.
On June 19, 2026, Iizaka Onsen in Fukushima launched a town-wide all-inclusive plan: one ¥25,000 passport for 16 inns, 13 baths, and 25 shops, with local sake, disc gyoza, and day-baths on the house. A look at a shrinking spa town's bet on a whole-district tourism model.
JR East will phase out magnetic short-distance train tickets in spring 2027, replacing them with QR-code paper tickets. We break down the environmental and cost reasons, why almost no one will notice, and the small ritual that is quietly disappearing.
A stray calico named Tama once saved a doomed rural rail line. Now Japan's Wakayama Electric Railway plans to turn the whole route into 'Nyanderland', a cat nation with passports, visas, and a queen.
Tokyo's life-size Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba is being redressed with new decals by original designer Hajime Katoki before its end-of-August removal. Here is what the Ver. TWC FINAL makeover involves, the final nightly light-up lineup, the free headband campaign, and how to see it before it's gone.
JR Central and JR West unveil Supreme Class, the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen's new top tier: a private cabin with a locked door, free service, and a steep price. Here's the cost and how visitors can book it.