Hokkaido startup aims for the stars with high-altitude balloon trips

Although a four-hour ride will cost 24 million yen ($164,000) per passenger, the company says it has received applications beyond its expectations.

It has not been a good year for luxury adventure travel for the super-wealthy. Hopefully all precautions will be taken.

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North Korea can assume this baloon as threat, please be careful when riding those baloon.

No thanks. Theres less riskier ways to enjoy Hokkaido.

Good luck with the new venture.

sky is the limit!

I forsee accidental deaths, lawsuits, and deep bows in your future.

OceanGate 2.0

Iwaya's founder must have been misquoted, or poorly translated. The sky is neither a road nor is it bumpy. Balloon travel is very smooth, nothing like airplanes, ATVs, Oceangate, or ships in the sea.

We have helium in finite quantities on Earth and why should we waste it for stupid reasons like this?

Helluva long fall if that balloon pops.

This doesn't seem like a well thought out plan at all. Super risky, and doesn't seem to consider several basic things - the amount of breathable air in a small sealed box isn't much (since humans need approximately 250 mls. of oxygen each minute and 21% of air is oxygen), it's VERY cold at those altitudes, real risk of CO2 poisoning, cabin pressure, and the survivability of the pod in the event that an emergency parachute is needed to control descent back to the Earth.

the spectacle of the blue Earth can be observed from the stratosphere at 25 km high, the company said.

Or just from the the screen of your phone or computer without having to spend a king's ransom or nearly getting yourself killed.

This doesn't seem like a well thought out plan at all. Super risky, and doesn't seem to consider several basic things - the amount of breathable air in a small sealed box isn't much (since humans need approximately 250 mls. of oxygen each minute and 21% of air is oxygen), it's VERY cold at those altitudes, real risk of CO2 poisoning, cabin pressure, and the survivability of the pod in the event that an emergency parachute is needed to control descen

Ah, what a shame you're not on the team! If only they had posted job openings on tabloid news sites you could have told them all this. I bet none of their aeronautical engineers thought of this stuff.