Travel in Japan

A town in Japan is taking necessary steps to block the iconic panoramic view of Mount Fuji from a popular photo spot due to a surge in tourist crowds trying to get the perfect shot. This has caused frustration and safety concerns for local residents and businesses in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, prompting authorities to erect a mesh barrier to ensure safety and order.

I hopped on a train heading to Denver's international airport with confidence.

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Manila, Philippines, is in a continuous state of flux, but Makati Central Square or MCS, dubbed “Manila’s most eccentric mall,” remains a constant. It’s a hodge-podge establishment strewn with shops selling cell phone accessories, children’s toys, guns, secondhand clothing, and crystals; located inside Little Tokyo—a neighborhood with a cluster of Japanese izakaya. It’s been an eccentric fixture in Makati City, Metro Manila’s central business district, since the 1980s.

During a time when new airport lounges are constantly aiming to one-up each other—with landscaped patios and over-the-top shower suites—Delta Air Line’s newest offering sets a high bar.

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Airline ticket giveaways, elaborate drone and pyrotechnic shows, and invitations to thousands of influencers to visit and “tell a good story.” These are among the wide-ranging ways Hong Kong has tried to revive its international tourism industry, a crucial economic driver battered by years of pandemic restrictions and political upheaval.

Travel metasearch engine Skyscanner is preparing to launch a new marketplace within its app that offers a range of additional services.

For travelers who are as passionate about food as they are about exploring new destinations, planning a vacation around a Michelin-starred dining experience can be the ultimate culinary adventure. It's the perfect excuse to catch a glimpse of high-profile chefs, discover unique ingredients and taste new techniques — and doing so may even give you a better appreciation for the culture and region you are visiting.

When I became a mother nine years ago, my entire world changed.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, October 18, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. 

While passport application and renewal delays are over and traveling internationally is—for the most part—easier than ever, did you know it’s totally possible to hop on a plane to a white-sand beach or streets that feel just like Spain with just your driver's license in hand? The best places to travel without a passport are within reach. You just need to know where to look. And one of the best options American travelers have at hand are the US territories.

Whether your cinematic tastes tend more toward spine-tingling suspense, bloody gore, cheesy horror, or light-hearted fantasy, watching spooky movies is one of the best ways to get into the Halloween spirit. Since we can’t quite hop aboard flying broomsticks of our own and travel directly into the worlds of such films, visiting halloween movie filming locations in real-life is the next best thing. Although these destinations can be visited any time of the year, planning your “location vacation” during October often comes with special seasonal perks, like film screenings and even whole town transformations into their on-screen counterparts.

In 2014, when the artist Dan McCarthy moved from Brooklyn into a converted schoolhouse in upstate New York, he decided the grand hall would be a future gathering spot for his many Facepots: large, wonky vessels decorated with a spectrum of grins and grimaces. The earliest ones, about a decade old, recall a time of emotional swings. “I hadn’t even found the clay that worked,” McCarthy says of that experimental phase, “so a lot of the pots were breaking in the kiln.” He learned to relinquish control, repairing the salvageable works using the Japanese technique known as kintsugi, in which mended seams are accented in silver or gold. The Facepots brought a new openness to McCarthy’s practice, as did the Hudson Valley. Absent the city’s pressures, he explains, “I was like a kid — on my hands and knees, lost in making a thing.” “Freedom,”a new monograph of McCarthy’s work, charts that arc, with nods to his Southern California upbringing, seen in rainbow-colored paintings of surfers and songbirds perched on guitars. Birds also animate new ceramic works in his solo exhibition at the Tokyo gallery Kosaku Kanechika, on view through Nov. 16. For McCarthy, these first faceless pots offer a shift in narrative. “Instead of a vessel, maybe it’s a nest,” he says, describing a fascination with his neighborhood birds. Kintsugi-like detailing appears on these pieces, too: Silver-leafed slabs camouflage the occasional split, while shiny rectangles evoke the little mirrors tucked inside birdcages. For the artist, fresh off his first flight to Japan, it’s a time of possibility. “I’m 62, which is old and not,” McCarthy says. “I think I’ve got another act in me. It should be an adventure.”

For a trip in June 2023, I booked a first-class ticket on Japan Airlines from New York to Tokyo (and continuing on to Osaka) using 100,000 miles I had accumulated on Alaska Airlines, one of JAL’s partners. The flight from New York to Tokyo was canceled a few hours before departure because of a mechanical failure. A Japan Airlines agent categorically refused to help me rebook, even when I offered to take a downgrade in the following days or fly another airline. The agent insisted I take it up with Alaska, in direct violation of JAL’s contract of carriage, which requires it to book me on an upcoming flight with it or “any other Carrier.” Alaska could only refund my miles, so I ended up paying for a last minute, one-way ticket later that day on United Airlines to Tokyo and then a train ticket to Osaka, for a total of $3,400. That is far more than the value of the refunded Alaska miles. Can you help?

Foreign visitor spending in Japan in the first nine months of this year surpassed 2023’s full-year record of JPY 5.3 trillion ($35 billion).

In its latest move to attract international travelers, budget carrier IndiGo has entered into a codeshare agreement with Malaysian Airlines. In a codeshare agreement, partner airlines are able to sell seats in flights operated by the other carrier. 

Many travelers want to see eclipses, meteor showers, volcanic eruptions, penguin migrations, and other natural phenomena. That was one trend highlighted in Expedia’s Unpack’ 25 report, released Wednesday.

From Tokyo, the only thing standing between you and photographing one of the world’s most iconic mountains is a few hours on the Shinkansen high-speed train. My recent journey to Mt. Fuji felt like a montage from one of my favorite adventure movies. It took me through four stations, showered me with scenic landscapes, and landed me at the foot of a natural wonder — equipped with my photography gear, of course.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to escape into a fairytale? To command a dragon, slay beasts, or ride into battle like Norse mythology’s Valkyrie? Hans Christian Andersen, the father of modern fairytales, likely imagined the same. Both the author and his stories were born and raised on the island of Fyn, Denmark (pronounced Foon in Danish).

This year is shaping up to be a “year of contrasts” for the Asia Pacific hotel market, according to real estate services company JLL.

Pizza is first and foremost one of Italy’s trademarks - but the dish has become a firm favourite around the world.