Japan's Popular Rail Pass Is About to Get More Expensive

Speeding through central Florida’s flat scrubland east of Orlando is America’s next big passenger train.

In every corner of Japan, there are echoes of Ghibli film settings. The country’s most successful anime studio launched in 1985, and its films have become emblematic of Japan’s offbeat, inventive character. It’s no surprise the opening of the Ghibli Park in November 2022 proved so popular. Tickets are released three months in advance but, almost a year on, they’re still like gold dust due to high domestic demand. There are no rides at the park either. Instead, it’s been designed as a place to “take a stroll, feel the wind, and discover the wonders”, according to its founders.

Traveling this summer often came with major sticker shock, especially for international getaways. But with the fall travel season upon us, both temperatures and prices are mellowing out, as a mix of global cities—some surprising—are arising as choice destinations.

Japan welcomed more than 2 million visitors for a third straight month in August, recovering to more than 80% of pre-pandemic levels for the first time, official data showed on Wednesday.

A train carriage turned into a wrestling ring on Monday, as Japanese professional fighters battled in the aisle. Organisers say it was the first wrestling match held inside a bullet train.

The internet is calling a TikToker "disrespectful" and "rude" after he filmed himself entering a women-only train carriage in Japan and compared it to gender-based segregation that countries like Saudi Arabia mandate. 

Japan's iconic Mount Fuji is struggling with overtourism.

France plans to introduce an unlimited rail pass next year months after the country banned many domestic flights.

This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.

When our iPhones alerted us that the temperature had crept past 37C, we paused. Every sun-drenched step outside felt like we were wagyu steaks sizzling on the grill. Was honeymooning in Japan in July – one of its hottest, most humid months – really a good idea? From Osaka to Kobe to Kyoto, my wife Erin and I planned every day with one goal: avoid melting into puddles. Around us, hordes of tourists were in the same sweaty boat. But a few days in, I noticed something. The locals looked noticeably cooler, less crabby, more comfortable. Why? The answer should come as no surprise. Japan, a nation renowned for its design thinking and innovation, is armed with a fistful of ways to survive punishing heat. While they love air-con as much as the next heat-stricken country, they also find respite in creative remedies, from electrically ventilated clothes to water-based rituals. Solutions like these epitomise a nation where ancient traditions fuse with hyper-modern cities reaching endlessly towards the future. Here's six ways that locals cope with extreme heat.

On a grey, rainy Saturday a steady stream of tour buses arrive at a base station of Japan’s Mount Fuji depositing dozens of lightly dressed foreign tourists in front of souvenir shops and restaurants.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Dr. Londí Cox, an international psychologist and expat therapist who's been living abroad since 2014. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.