Trip within a Trip: Osaka and Kyoto, Japan

As the local saying goes, Fiji is a place “where happiness comes naturally.” Travel buyers and journalists at this past week’s annual Fiji Tourism Exchange event learned details of how much happiness has been coming here in the past year. Visitor numbers for 2024 are already up 11% compared to 2023, and the nearly one million visitors last year reached a new record for the island nation, representing nearly $1.5 billion U.S. Dollars in revenue to the country.

Many Japanese have liked to buy timeshares in the U.S. — especially in Hawaii — as an alternative to investing in a Japanese stock market that has produced poor returns for decades. But with the Japanese yen at a 36-year low against the dollar, that trend has reversed.

A Japanese town, known for its near-perfect views of the iconic Mount Fuji, is fighting back against hordes of tourists.

A brand new helicopter and hiking tour has launched in Shizuoka, exploring Japan’s captivating Southern Alps. Offering exhilarating views of majestic Mt. Fuji and its surrounding peaks, the tour includes stops at a rejuvenating mountain onsen, a traditional ryokan and Japan’s most remote whisky distillery.

One of Marriott's newest and most affordable brands is slated to grow in one of the world's most-visited countries.

A Japanese convenience store in the northern foothills of Mount Fuji has turned into an unlikely tourist attraction in recent years thanks to a popular viewpoint of the iconic volcano.

A flight to Germany had to be met by emergency services after dozens of passengers started vomiting, the German outlet Bild reported.

Flying on Japan Airlines has always been, well, delightfully Japanese. Think of it as an introduction—or if departing from Tokyo, a bid farewell—to the country’s characteristic tenets of respectful, nearly differential service; seafood-forward and fresh cuisine; and commitment to cultural traditions. (Onboard oshiburi, anyone?) Add in comfortable seats across all cabins—yes, even decent economy ones with 34 inches of recline—and you have an experience worth writing home about. Or at least not complaining to someone about.

While neon-lit Tokyo moves ahead at hyperspeed, Kyoto ambles along at a leisurely pace. During its thousand-year reign as Japan’s imperial city, artisans from around the country flocked here to hone their skills in nishijin-ori silk weaving and kyo-yaki pottery. Today, in its traditional machiya town houses, ceramicists and woodworkers still produce the same fine wares as their ances- tors. But a group of younger makers is shaking up the scene, opening next-gen ateliers, teahouses, and concept stores that swap the sometimes-intimidating rules and rituals of traditional crafts with modern designs and easygoing retail spaces. Whatever the approach, one thing is for sure in Kyoto: The handmade reigns supreme.

I pulled into the tiny hamlet of Hirase, in Japan’s Gifu prefecture, at the peak of the day’s heat. I’d just climbed several thousand feet through Hakusan National Park, on a twisting, waterfall-lined road, before eventually descending into the shimmering fantasy landscape of Shirakawa-go, an almost Tolkien-esque small village—and UNESCO heritage site—comprised of centuries-old thatched, peaked-roof farmhouses in the gassho-zukuri style. Replenishing myself with a black-sesame ice cream cone, I made the last push towards my destination. My cycling computer eventually told me “destination reached,” but all I could see was a succession of closed businesses lining a small street. Seeking shade, I flopped against a security gate.

It would be easy to read Evil Does Not Exist as being anti-travel—or, at the very least, anti-glamping. The new film from Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is set in the tranquil (and fictional) village of Mizubiki some two hours outside of Tokyo. Locals live in deference to the nature that surrounds them, collecting water from the forest’s crystal-clear spring with quiet care. But, when COVID-era economic incentives drive a Tokyo consulting firm to erect a glamping site upstream of the village, without considering the environmental consequences on the community, a high-drama town meeting ensues, wherein villagers poke hole after hole in the hastily-drawn plan. Over the course of the film's two hours, it continues to meditate on topics of man and nature, framing stunning countryside scenery for so long, and with such focus, that you emerge refreshed as though from a cold plunge.

It's a big, big day for Cunard, the storied cruise brand that once operated such legendary ocean liners as the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth 2.