Higher tobacco taxes could be on the way to Japan photo by HAMED MASOUMI One of the reasons for many ex-pats in Japan to take up or continue smoking is their relative low-cost to cigarettes back home.  Currency exchange is one thing but also the fact that the Japanese Government has resisted temptation to whack [...]

Cheap holidays to Japan at Christmas have become quite popular. Photo by w00kie Although Japan never recognized Christmas as a national holiday, it is catching on more as many people travel to the area to see the beautiful Christmas trees and the stores that go all out with Christmas lights and decorations. In Japan, the [...]

ANA’s month long bladder relief trial Photo by Michel Filion Unlike their Japanese counterparts JAL, ANA seem more financially stable.  But like all companies at the moment, they are going to extreme measures to cut costs. In this latest development, ANA have announced a month-long trial of asking all passengers to empty their bladders before [...]

And the Jeanist award goes to Japan’s First Lady photo by digicla Japan’s First Lady Miyuki Hatoyama has won the Best Jeanist Award for 2009.  Organisers Japan Jeans Association described how the wife of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wears her jeans in “a classy but revolutionary style” that “projects a positive spirit representing true denim” [...]

Photo by will_hybrid Tokyo just might be the largest city in the world, comprised of 23 individual wards, all with their own unique characteristics. Foreigners are easily intimidated by the sheer expanse of Japan’s capital city and its 17 million inhabitants (5 million are commuters); however, due to this volume alone Tokyo has developed an [...]

photo by Dan Zen What is it about Britons and big cons in Japan in October?  There’s been two big ones in the news this month and we’re waiting for the third (as things always come in threes!) The first was a British man who won 16 million yen betting on horse races and then [...]

photo by foodforthepoor.org Unknown to a lot of nations and people, Japan does donate a lot of money (often granted by the Japanese Government) to groups of other nations who are in need or less fortunate than themselves. Earlier this month, the Japanese Government extended this generosity to some of Jamaica’s poor. In some rural [...]

Kyoto and the 9 wonders of the city Photo by Chi King When people first consider the idea of a holiday in Japan, their thoughts usually turn to Tokyo. Now, there’s nothing wrong with Tokyo and its soaring skyscrapers perfectly contrasting with its somber temples, but there is a lot more to Japan than the [...]

Intel Core Challenge hits Japan Less than a month to go until the deadline for the Intel Core Challenge, which is accepting entrants from Japan. According to the Intel Core Challenge site “We’re challenging enthusiasts like you to create an incredible desktop that will envision the possibilities of tomorrow’s technology – from awesome gaming PCs [...]

photo by freakland Minoru Mori had a vision of building a city within the city of Tokyo, and after seventeen years with the help of some four hundred of Tokyo’s individual landowners, his vision was realized in 2003. Roppongi Hills is an eleven-hectare vertical city, and its centerpiece, the fifty-four story Mori Tower, can be [...]