Driven by a desire to connect with my heritage, I set out on a three-week journey to explore Japan on my own. Though I'm an avid solo traveler and did research about the country, its culture, and what I may expect as a first-time visitor, I still made plenty of mistakes. Here are several things I did wrong on my first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun - and what I'd do differently if I return.
Asahi Group Holdings said in a news release on September 29 that it was "experiencing a system failure caused by the cyberattack, affecting operations in Japan." According to several news outlets, the attack halted Asahi's production in a majority of its 30 production facilities in Japan, and the company has been unable to resume operations since September 29. In the release, it added that while no leakage of customer data had been confirmed, its order and shipment operations in Japan had been suspended.
"I can't believe they pay you to do this!" I was making good money. In addition to a salary of a few bucks over minimum wage, we'd average 10 snowmobiles per tour, and $20 tips per snowmobile. That was split between the lead and tail guide, with the tail guide - me - getting 20% or about $120 a day.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to resign to avoid a split within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the broadcaster NHK is reporting. The announcement on Sunday comes weeks after Ishiba denied reports he planned to resign over a historic defeat his LDP-led coalition suffered in a July election, losing its upper house majority, saying he wanted to make sure the tariff deal struck with the United States was appropriately implemented.
An attempt to promote friendship between Japan and countries in Africa has transformed into a xenophobic row about migration after inaccurate media reports suggested the scheme would lead to a flood of immigrants. The controversy erupted after the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, said this month it had designated four Japanese cities as Africa hometowns for partner countries in Africa: Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.
A flashing fireball dashed across the skies of western Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stargazers, though experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an alien invasion. Videos and photos emerged online of the extremely bright ball of light visible for hundreds of miles shortly after 11.00pm local time (1400 BST) on Tuesday. A white light I had never seen before came down from above, and it became so bright that I could clearly see the shapes of the houses around us,
Many disaster risk-reduction measures aim to change people’s behaviour by raising individuals’ awarenesses of the risks. These actions need to be made more effective - which could be done by following the approach taken by public-health professionals to communicating risks.
"When I discovered the real estate market in Japan and noticed the really low prices, it got me thinking about the possibilities of owning property there."
Koryo high school withdrew from the summer high school baseball championships after reports of abuse by players against a younger teammate led to public outcry and social media backlash.
The population of Japan went down by more than 900,000 people in 2024, marking an all-time high decline since records began in 1968. This represents the 16th consecutive year of population shrinkage, leaving Japan with a total of 124.3 million people.
Financial markets globally rallied with sharp increases in share prices, as the Nikkei rose by 3.5%, the FTSE 100 hit a record 9,061, and the Dow Jones rose over 1%. News regarding nearing trade deals between the EU and US spurred this surge, while a significant trade agreement recently made between the US and Japan benefited Japanese automakers, with Toyota's shares surging over 14%.
The US dollar steadied after three days of losses, as markets assessed the newly announced trade agreement with Japan, which involves a 15% tariff on exports.
Japan's coalition government led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lost its parliamentary majority in Sunday's election after large gains made by right-wing populist parties, pointing to growing polarization.
