Travel
Step back in time to the Edo period at this unusual highway rest stop in Japan
Just the other day, our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma stopped at the Hanyu Parking Area along the Tohoku Expressway in Hanyu City, Saitama Prefecture, and got the surprise of his life. For starters, parking areas are generally known for being smaller and more bare-bones than service areas on the highway, so… Read
ANA getting rid of large flight info monitors at security lines at Haneda's Terminal 2
For some passengers flying out of Haneda Airport later this month, the terminal is going to look a little different. Specifically, if you’re in Terminal 2 and planning to look up at the big monitors above the pre-boarding security line to check your flight into, you’re going to have to look elsewhere. All Nippon… Read
Peach to start Nagoya-Taipei service; resume Osaka-Kaohsiung flights
Peach Aviation Ltd has announced that starting March 27, it will start operating the Nagoya (Chubu) - Taipei (Taoyuan) route, its first international route at Nagoya (Chubu) Airport. Also, starting August 1, the Osaka (Kansai) - Kaohsiung route, which had been suspended for about three and a half years, will… Read
New unmanned hotel opens in Japan that requires check in and check out by Suica train card only
You may have heard of hotels in Japan run by robots, but now even the robots are gone. Hotel B4T Iwaki utilizes a new concept of streamlining the entire check in and check out process to just your IC train card. The hotel opened on January 15, and it’s right above JR Iwaki… Read
A solo trip around Kyushu
My journey through Kyushu begins in Osaka using the Sunflower overnight ferry. A bed in the tourist room costs only ¥8,000 which is unbelievable compared to how much that journey would cost via shinkansen. The tourist room sleeps ten travelers on futons, with only a curtain to provide privacy. The next day after gorging myself on… Read
Hong Kong woos tourists with 500,000 free air tickets and vouchers
Hong Kong will give away air tickets and vouchers to woo tourists back to the international financial hub, racing to catch up with other popular travel destinations in a fierce regional competition. During the pandemic, the city largely aligned itself with mainland China’s “zero-COVID” strategy and has relaxed its entry… Read
Exeggutor airplanes to begin flying for Solaseed Air in Miyazaki Prefecture
Pokemon have a knack for showing up in the most unexpected places, from manhole covers to wedding ceremonies. And with hundreds of known species of Pocket Monsters, there’s never any telling which ones will show up where. ▼ Look, there’re some now. Starting in the beginning of March, Miyazaki-based Solaseed Air will begin flying… Read
Boeing bids farewell to an icon, delivering its last 747 jumbo jet
Boeing bid farewell to an icon on Tuesday, delivering its final 747 jumbo jet as thousands of workers who helped build the planes over the past 55 years looked on. Since its first flight in 1969, the giant yet graceful 747 has served as a cargo plane, a commercial aircraft… Read
Airline, hotel elite status: Harder to get (or keep) in 2023
For the past couple of years, hotel and airline loyalty programs have extended elite status in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 2023, that’s coming to an end. A tsunami of downgrades will wipe out some travelers’ elite status because pandemic-era offers are expiring and loyalty programs are upping… Read
Elevate your fruit-picking experience with a strawberry-themed picnic inside greenhouse
Greenarium is located in the hilly north of Awaji in Hyogo Prefecture and has a natural setting with lots of vegetation. This peaceful location is most famous for its greenhouses that offer unique and seasonal fruit-picking activities. There is also a spacious playground area and cafe, making spending a whole day trip there easy. While… Read
