JAPAN HOSTEL GUESTHOUSE AND RYOKAN ONLINE BOOKING INFORMATION

Visits by foreign tourists to Tokyo fall for 1st time in 2009

The number of visits by foreign tourists to Tokyo dropped in 2009 for the first time since the Tokyo metropolitan government began compiling such data in 2004, sliding 10.8 percent to 4.76 million, a recent survey showed. The Tokyo government's Tourism Division under the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs attributed the decline to the economic slowdown following the global financial crisis since late 2008 and to the spread of the new H1N1 strain of influenza in the reporting year. (AP)

Japan's ANA to launch budget carrier

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to launch a low cost carrier, a decision set to be formally approved at its special board meeting on Thursday, reports said. The new budget airline, to be based at western Kansai International Airport, will start both international and domestic passenger services as early as autumn 2011. With the budget carrier, passengers are expected to be able to fly between Kansai and Tokyo's Narita airports for around 5,000 yen (60 dollars), about a third of the shinkansen bullet train fare linking the two cities. (AFP)

Japan suspends whaling dispute to hail PM's return

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, putting aside differences over whaling, yesterday congratulated Julia Gillard on returning Labor to power. Mr Kan and Ms Gillard spoke for 10 minutes by telephone yesterday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. "Prime Minister Kan congratulated Prime Minister Gillard on her reappointment as Prime Minister after her victory in one of the closest elections in Australian history," the ministry said. Mr Kan told Ms Gillard he was looking forward to seeing her at the APEC leaders meeting in Yokohama in November. (The Australian)

Would-be Japan PM rules out war shrine visit

Japan's ruling party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, who is seeking to become prime minister next week, signalled Wednesday he has no plans to visit Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni war shrine. Ozawa also said convicted World War II criminals should not be honoured at the site, which enshrines the souls of 2.5 million dead -- including 14 leading war criminals -- and is often seen as a symbol of Japan's past aggression. (AFP)

China and Japan bristle over disputed chain of islands

Despite recent efforts to tamp down territorial disputes, China and Japan are jostling elbows over one of their thorniest such conflicts: control of a tiny, uninhabited island chain in the East China Sea. On Wednesday morning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Japan's ambassador for the second time in 24 hours to protest Japan's response to a Chinese fishing boat that had entered disputed waters. On Tuesday, two Japanese naval vessels tried to intercept the Chinese boat, but the three collided. On Wednesday, the boat's captain was taken to the Japanese island of Okinawa for questioning. (New York Times)

Japan plans nationwide survey for NDM-1 superbug

Japan said Tuesday it plans a nationwide survey to assess the spread of an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" that surfaced in South Asia and was this week confirmed for the first time in Japan. The bacterium carrying the New Delhi metallo-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) gene was found in a sample taken from a man in his 50s who was hospitalised with high fever for several months last year after returning from a trip to India. Health Minister Akira Nagatsuma said the government may start a survey as early as this week of how far the new type of bug has spread, while also tightening reporting requirements on hospitals. (AFP)

Cigarette demand soars in Japan

With Japan's tobacco taxes scheduled to jump by 60 yen on October 1, Japanese smokers are stockpiling cigarettes. Tobacco companies and convenience stores are racing to keep up with the increased demand. Drug stores are looking to cash in after the tax hike by expanding their lineup of smoking cessation products, while Japan Tobacco Inc. will be remodeling its products to counter any decline in sales. Japan will raise taxes on most cigarettes brands by more than 50 percent, the largest hike ever. (nacsonline.com)

Monkey problems near Mt. Fuji, Japan

An area near Japan's famed Mt. Fuji is having increasing trouble with rowdy local inhabitants - monkeys that are stealing food and starting to attack humans. According to Japanese news report on September 8th, 81 people have been reported being injured by an unknown number of wild monkeys in Mishima and three other nearby cities and towns in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture since August 22nd. The majority of the victims, which have included people of all ages, were bitten on the arms or legs. Mishima had previously reported that monkeys were, most recently, causing trouble starting around June, mainly by stealing fruits and vegetables - such as bananas and corn - from local residents' houses. (examiner.com)

Bargain import buyers like yen rise

The yen's recent spike against the dollar has dealt a heavy blow to exporters, but the trend has provided perfect shopping incentives for women going after imported fashion-brand items. An annual special bargain began Wednesday morning at the Hanshin department store in Kita Ward, Osaka, with thousands of bags, jewelry items and accessories from top foreign fashion houses being offered at a 15 to 20 percent discount, store officials said. (Japan Times)

Buford man dies in Japan; family wants answers

A Buford family is struggling to unravel the mystery of their son's death in another country 6,800 miles away. Hoon "Scott" Kang, 20, was vacationing in Tokyo with friends when he was found lying in an emergency stairwell with blood trickling from his left ear early on Aug. 27. He died three days later in a hospital, never having regained consciousness. Japanese authorities initially concluded that he fell down the stairs accidentally. Kang's family believes he was a victim of something much more sinister. The surveillance video shows Kang in the elevator shortly after 11 p.m. with a man in a black hat. Kang gestures with both hands out, as if to say "I don't have anything," and the man appears to punch Kang in the stomach. (ajc.com)

'Eigo Noto' avoids budget ax

The education ministry has decided to continue free distribution of "Eigo Noto" (English Notebook) teaching aids for primary school English classes even after fiscal 2011, although discontinuation after that time was decided in last year's budget screening, it was learned Tuesday. Primary school English classes will be compulsory for fifth- and sixth-year students from the 2011 academic year, which starts from April next year, but it will not be regarded as a "subject" that requires student evaluations. Each school year, 35 classes are held for each grade. Eigo Noto supplements use abundant illustrations. Greetings and how to count can be learned through games and quizzes. (Yomiuri)

Japan to make energy from couch potatoes

The â€œenergy scavengingâ€ campaign has been formed by 23 Japanese companies, including bitter rivals Honda and Toyota, with the aim of filling homes, offices and cars with electronic devices that can power themselves. As well as heat, even the smallest movements of the most determined couch potato, according to Japanese researchers, could be converted into useful energy for powering a battery-free TV remote or video games controller. (Herald Sun)

Tsuneoka says captors grew tired of holding him, failing to get ransom

Fresh from his release in Afghanistan, freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka said Tuesday in Tokyo he was probably freed after five months in captivity because his abductors' demands for ransom failed. "I always spent time with them, and I didn't see any indication of success" that the militants were able to extort a payment, Tsuneoka, 41, told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. (Japan Times)

Strong Yen Pumps Up Luxury Prices

For decades, the model for selling luxury imported goods in Japan has been simple: plush surroundings, attentive service-and the "Japan premium." Taking advantage of the luxury-goods appetite and high incomes of Japanese consumers, foreign high-end retailers have been able to charge much more than in other markets for the same goods. But the cozy system may be cracking, thanks in part to a surging yen - it hit a fresh 15-year-high against the dollar Tuesday - that's encouraging third-party websites to jump in with deep discounts. (Wall Street Journal)

Fukatsu best actress at Montreal

Eri Fukatsu has won the best actress award at the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival in Canada for her performance in "Akunin" ("Villain"), directed by Lee Sang Il. Fukatsu, also known for her role as the mistress of a gang boss in the 2008 movie "The Magic Hour," became the second Japanese actress to take home the best actress trophy, after Yuko Tanaka, who won the prize in 1983 for "Amagi Goe.". (Japan Times)

Despite the big spender image, Japanese actually love to save

There's this image that the Japanese are drop-dead, go-all-out kaimono-chudokusho (shopaholics), despite whatever the latest dreary news bulletin on the global recession says. While that may be true, it's also a fact of our collective lives that the Japanese hate spending, with every fiber of our being. Call it the Japan paradox, or just plain perverse, but while many of us won't blink twice at buying some luxury-brand handbag - or blowing 10,000 yen on an Italian dinner, even though we're on extremely modest incomes - we're also adept at keeping our wallets tightly shut come flood or tsunami, or even the whirlwind that was Julia Roberts' first visit to Japan last month. The truth is that the Japanese are better at saving than spending - we have about 1,000 years of poverty and deprivation behind us, while the hankering to buy La Perla lingerie is less than three decades old. (Japan Times)

Suicides, depression cost Japanese economy 2.7 tril. yen in 2009

The combined cost of suicides and depression cases to the Japanese economy totaled 2.68 trillion yen in 2009 due to lost incomes from the deaths and social security payments necessitated by the mood disorder, the government said Tuesday. Health minister Akira Nagatsuma released the figures at a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers on measures to deal with suicides and depression, held at the prime minister's office, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry officials said. Among the 32,845 people who killed themselves in 2009, about 26,500 were aged between 15 and 69, the ministry said. If these people had lived on and worked until the age of 70, they would have earned an estimated total of 1,902.8 billion yen, it said. (AP)

Land known for 'jobs for life' takes to dual careers

For decades, the standard career path in Japan was to join a company after graduation from college and to stay there until retirement - one job for life. But with salaries down more than 12 percent over the past decade and with the labor market uncertain, young, mostly single Japanese are increasingly making ends meet by working second or even third jobs. Some deliver leaflets or work in convenience stores. Some trade foreign currencies online, while others sell items on Internet auction sites. Data released last week found that almost 56 percent of workers between 15 and 34 years old needed another form of income to help pay living expenses. (New York Times)

New financial assistance program to encourage more students to study abroad

The government is set to introduce a new program that will encourage more students to study abroad by giving them financial assistance to stay overseas for a short period of time, it has been learned. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is launching what it has dubbed a "short visit" program from next fiscal year to boost the number of students who study abroad. In a bid to encourage more students to go abroad, the ministry will solicit students who are willing to stay overseas for a period of two weeks to three months so they can get a taste of what an overseas education is like. (Mainichi)

Abducted Japanese reporter returns home

A Japanese journalist returned home Monday after militants in Afghanistan released him from five months in captivity. In a series of messages from his Twitter account, freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka said he had thought he would be killed, and that he was not being held by the Taliban, as reported in the Japanese media. His abductors were local militants posing as Taliban to deceive the Japanese government, he wrote. Tsuneoka's captors apparently decided to release him because he is a fellow Muslim, Japan's Kyodo news agency said. According to his personal website, Tsuneoka converted to the religion in 2000 while in Moscow. (AP)

'Anime' makes Japan superpower

Japan may be on a slow decline as far as being a global economic force, but the "soft power" of its modern entertainment genres, from manga to "anime," has global appeal, especially among young people. Why and how did this entertainment media thrive? How popular is it overseas? (Japan Times)

2 Greenpeace Japan members given suspended term for whale meat theft

Two members of environmentalist group Greenpeace Japan were each sentenced Monday to one year in jail, suspended for three years, for stealing in 2008 a package of whale meat which a Japanese whaling ship crew member was trying to send home. The sentence was handed down by the Aomori District Court in northeastern Japan against Junichi Sato, a 33-year-old antiwhaling campaign coordinator, and Toru Suzuki, 43. (AP)

Fund sell-off to help Japan's elderly

Japan's colossal 117 trillion yen Government Pension Investment Fund is poised for an unprecedented asset sell-off. The move comes as the country heads towards a potential retirement crisis. Over the next few months the largest pension fund in the world will liquidate more than Y4 trillion of assets to make its required payments to pensioners as the country's army of baby boomers finally hits retirement age. However, driven by a growing desperation to meet its payout obligations, the conservatively managed GPIF is also considering a radical change of tack. It is studying whether it should divert at least a portion of its huge asset base towards higher-risk venture capital-style investments, unlisted companies and higher-yield infrastructure projects at home and abroad. (The Australian)

18% of Grade Schools in Japan Feed Whale to Kids

It turns out that a surprisingly high number of grade schools in Japan are serving their students more than just a well-rounded education. According to the results of a survey released today, whale meat is back on the menu at about a sixth of Japan's public elementary and junior-high schools. In recent years, the nation has stirred the ire of environmentalists for continuing to hunt whales despite a decline in the meat's popularity -- to feed their kids, apparently. (treehugger.com)

Body in sack ID'd as 78-year-old

A dead body found in a sack outside a house in Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture, was identified Monday as that of Akira Higashi, who had lived in the house and was missing for the last month, police said. Fingerprints of the partially decomposed body - which appeared to be that of a man who died about a month ago - confirmed it was that of the 78-year-old Higashi, police said. (Japan Times)

Nara

The deer symbol of the city Nara is and becomes into 710 the first fixed capital of Japan (at the time the state of Yamato). The city names then Heijô-kyô. It will quickly become one of the most beautiful towns of Asia. The capital is built according to a checkerboard plan of Chinese inspiration of approximately 4,3 km of broad 4,8 km length. Its population believes to reach the 100.000 inhabitants. In 784 the capital is transferred Nagaoka, the city loses its gloss then. In 794 it is famous Nanto. The city will suffer particularly from the pangs of the civil war. In 1180 the clan of Taira set fire to the city. This one was almost entirely destroyed even Daibutsu-den was not saved. Main efforts of rebuilding were made at the end of the civil war in order to give again at the city its last gloss.

The ryokans Tôdai-ji and Kôfuku-ji were then rebuilt. Nara was not long in becoming in the shade of Kyoto the new capital, the second city of the country. In 1560 the city is under the influence of the warrior Hisahide Matsunaga. This one will establish its cheap accomodation on the Mikenji-yama mount. The war will then touch again the city in 1567 at the time of a war opposing the clans Hisahide and Miyoshi. During the Edo period, Nara was directed by an administrator shogunal. At the end of XVIIéme century, the city had 35.000 inhabitants. The city was then known for its production of helmet, ink and range. Under the Meiji era at the same time as Buddhism lost of its Nara influence lost of its capacity. Its safety came from final creation in 1887 of the prefecture of Nara with Nara as place chief. Nara, whose several monuments are since 1998 registered voters with the world inheritance of UNESCO, shelters today a population of 367,180 inhabitants in October 2002.

Nara is located near the towns of Kyoto and Kobe in the center is principal island of Honshu. The city covers a surface of 211.60 km2. Its climax is with 678,4 meters. The city is located at the north of the prefecture éponyme, with the limit of the prefecture of Kyoto. Economy The local economy is primarily turned towards the tertiary sector (services and tourism) the primary sector being since the years 1980 in full regression. Transport Nara is HOW TOible by road, trains and plane. On the spot the city has an important network of bus which will enable you to move easily.

By plane: The airport nearest is the airport of Itami of Osaka. Airport Itami to take the Bus of the airport to arrive at Kintetsu Uehommachi. From there take the line Kaisoku kyuko for Kintetsu Nara.Le way lasts approximately 1 hour. You can also arrive by the international airport of Kansai.

you will have to travel by the train Kansai-kuko then Yamatoji to station JR of Nara. By train: De Kyoto to return to you to station JR of Nara you can take the line of train JR Nara. You can also take the line Kintetsu Kyoto which arrives at the station Kintetsu Nara. Station of Kintetsu Namba Osaka to take the Kaisoku-kyuko train to arrive at the station Kintetsu Nara. The subway: Nara does not have subway.

Bus: An important network of Bus furrows the city making it possible to compensate for the absence of subway. The point of information for the bus is located opposite station JR of Nara. Another point of information is located at the station of Kintetsu Nara. There is a line of bus especially conceived for the visitors who will make known to you all the great tourist centers of Nara. Four routes were set up from station JR of Nara. To locate itself Nara not having subway, we advise you to make your displacements with foot. You can well on travelling by the bus but why not benefit from this pleasant city differently and simply. The city built according to a checkerboard plan makes it possible to easily circulate without fear to lose itself. Moreover the majority of the major tourist places are collected around stations JR of Nara and Kintetsu.

Shinto rites of purity decreed that with the death of an emperor, the capital must be relocated. It was around Nara that all of Japan's orignal capitals were established between the third and eighth centuries. From 710 Nara was made the 'permanent capital', a permanence that lasted, however, for only 84 years before the capital was moved to what was then called Heiankyo, now Kyoto.

Elegant testiments to Nara's ancient status remain mainly in the form of ryokans, and, of course, the rites and festivities that they have been the focus of for over a thousand years.

Nara Park is notable for the hundreds of tame deer it is home to. Rice crackers (sembei) are on sale at 150 yen to feed them: a favorite photo opportunity.

Todaiji ryokan (a World Heritage Site) is a complex of buildings that includes the world's largest wooden structure, the 48m (157 foot)-high Daibutsu-den, built in 743 and which houses the 15m (49 foot) gilt bronze Daibutsu (Great Buddha), cast in 749: also the largest of its kind in the world.

Over 9000 of Todaiji's priceless cultural treasures are on display in another of its many buildings, the Shoso-in Hall which is, architecturally, a treasure in its own right.

The famous five-story pagoda (go-juu-no-toh) located inside Nara Park is the most famous relic of the almost 180 buildings that once made up Kofukuji ryokan: a ryokan founded originally in Kyoto by the ancient and powerful Fujiwara clan, and later moved to Nara when the city became the capital in 710A.D.

Also inside Nara Park is the Kasuga Taisha Shrine, one of Japan's most prominent Shinto shrines originally built, like Kofukuji ryokan - but 99 years later in 768, by the Fujiwara family. However, like the Great Shrine at Ise, Kasuga Taisha Shrine is destroyed and rebuilt every 20 years in accordance with the purity precepts of the Shinto religion.

Gangoji ryokan, originally known as Hokoji ryokan, is said to be Japan's first true Buddhist ryokan. Its establishment was of such significance that the King of Paekche in Korea sent artisans to help with its construction - which took place in the then capital of nearby Asuka. It was moved to Nara when the city became capital and the original ryokan is now split into two: a 'Gangoji' in the city's Chuin-cho area, and another 'Gangoji' in the Shibanoshin-ya-cho area. The Chuin-cho Gangoji is a World Heritage site and is notable for its Hondo (main hall) and Zenshitsu (zen room).

Like Gangoji ryokan, Yakushuji ryokan was also built in Asuka and later moved to Nara. It is notable for its pituresque restored East Tower (Toh-toh), which is the only remaining original building of this ryokan. However, work over recent decades has restored Yakushiji to a state befitting this head ryokan of the small "Consciousness-Only" Hosso sect of Buddhism.

There is much to see in the countryside surrounding Nara including the cherry blossoms at Yoshino and the sacred pilgrimage site of Mt. Omine. Also of interest are the ruins at Asukamura.

Nara is a superb city harmonizes some with the environment and having preserved its cultural identities. Not to be delayed in this history and bosky bower would be an error. In Nara figure it is more than 36 ryokans, 16 sanctuaries, 417 parks of all sizes, 2 amusement parks, 20 city information / tipss, 2 halls of exposure and 8 goods registered to the world inheritance of UNESCO! To stroll in the streets of Nara is a sheer delight especially in the typical lanes of the district of Naramachi located at the south of the Kofuku-ji ryokan and the lake Sarusaw.

Neiraku Bijutsukan: Located not far from the Todai-ji ryokan and of one putting back garden, this city information / tips offers to the sight of the visitors an interesting Japanese bronze and Asian ceramics collection. Yamato Bunkakan: is a gathering city information / tips of the objets d'art eclectic but a great quality. Painting, folding screen, drawing are well represented there.

Address: 1-11-6 Minami, Gakuen. Kokuô Kan: is a city information / tips gathering an interesting collection of Buddhist statues. Nara-shi Shashin Bijutsukan: city information / tips of the photography which is devoted almost to Taikichi Irie. National city information / tips of Nara. This city information / tips with atypical architecture gathers archaeological collections of works as well as traditional penmanships, paintings (e-makimono) and sculptures. Address: 150 Noborioji-cho.

More city information / tipss. As an indication, here the other city information / tipss which you can visit in Nara. - city information / tipss of the center of Nara city information / tips of the prefecture of Nara. Address: 10-6 Noborioji. - city information / tips Toki-No-shiryo-kan.

Address: 28 Nishinoshinya-cho. - city information / tips Naramachi Siryo-kan. Address: 14 Nishinoshinya-cho. - Historical city information / tips of the town of Nara of the habitat.

Address: 1-1 Wakido-cyo. - Kokuhoukan city information / tips. Address: 48 Noborioji-cho. - city information / tips of the Penmanship of the town of Nara in the honor of Kason Sugioka.

Address: 3, wakido-cho. - Nara Kraft city information / tips. Address: 1-1 Azemame-cho. - Neiraku city information / tips. Address: 174 Mima-cho. - Nara park city information / tips. Address: 1469 Zoshi-cho. - Nara City city information / tips of Photography. Address: 1600-1 Takabatake-cho. - Houmotsu-den city information / tips of the sanctuaireKasuga Taisha.

Address: 1160 Kasugano-cho - city information / tipss of the west of Nara The city information / tips of Art Shohaku. Address: 2-1-4 Tomigaoka. - The city information / tips of Art Nakano Art city information / tips.

Address: 9-946-2 Minami, Ayameike. - city information / tipss of the western north of Nara city information / tips of the road of the silk of Nara. Address: 3-5-15 Minami, Nijooji. - city information / tipss of the western south of Nara Sugawara city information / tips.

Address: 403-2 Yokoryo-cho. - The city information / tipss of the nard is of Nara The residence of the former lord and chief of clan of Yagyu. Address: 155-1 Yagyu-cho.

Tourist information center in JR Nara Station: 0742-22-9821; Kintetsu Nara Station: 0742-24-4858. Nara City hotel ist Association (on Sanjo Dori): 0742-22-3900. Goodwill books are available free of charge: Nara S.G.G. Ryokan (0742-22-5595, English, French, German, Chinese, and Thai); Nara YMCA (0742-45-5920, English) Nara Student book (0742-26-4753, English)

International credit ryokand ATMs

Along Sanjo Dori, the narrow shopping street that runs from JR Nara Station to Nara Park, there are several banks that will change money and have ATMs that can be HOW TOed with credit ryokands issued overseas:

-Nara Bank: Diners Ryokan, MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, JCB; 8:45am-7pm, 9am-5pm weekends (closed Jan 1st - 3rd).

-Mizuho Bank Diners Ryokan, MasterCard, Visa/Mastercard, AmEx; 8:45am-7pm, 9am-5pm weekends (closed Jan 1st - 3rd).

-Sumitomo-Mitsui Bank: Diners Ryokan, MasterCard, Visa/Mastercard, AmEx; 8am-9pm (closed Jan 1st - 3rd).

HOW TO

Air

Airport limousine services to Kansai International Airport or JR train and change at Tennoji Station in Osaka.

Rail

HOW TO to Osaka on JR West (about 45 minutes on the express) or Kintetsu Line from Namba and Tsuruhashi. HOW TO to Kyoto on either Kintetsu Railways (35 minutes on the Super Express Tokyo) or JR West (40 minutes on the Miyakojima Express).

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