Mount Fuji in trouble: How Japan’s highest peak fell victim to overtourism

From harbor-front Hong Kong glam to old-school European luxury, a just-released list of the best hotels on the planet offers a handy guide to traveling the world in high style – or at least assembling a list of dream accommodations. 

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.

There was a time when accommodation options in Japan tended to fall into three categories: glossy international chains, dull homegrown business hotels and basic ryokan (traditional inns), which despite their atmospheric tatami mats and wooden sliding doors were often light on comfort and mod cons. But new options abound, particularly for the cultural traveller. 

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 Japanese resort company is converting an iconic former prison into a 48-room luxury hotel.

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.

Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.

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.

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.