Pillow Talk Japan

Angela Aki to be a Mom

Popular singer-songwriter Angela Aki (34) and her music director husband are expecting their first child, it was revealed today. The baby is due at the end of February but Aki has said that she plans to go ahead with her planned year-end concert at the Nippon Budokan. The concert has been an annual event since [...]

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Holidaymakers’ departure rush peaks at Narita airport

The departure rush of travelers planning to spend the year- end and New Year holidays abroad peaked Wednesday at Narita airport, with around 38,000 people estimated to fly from the airport that serves Tokyo, according to Narita International Airport Corp. Many travelers opted for destinations in Europe such as Italy and Spain on the back [...]

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Year-end, New Year int’l flight bookings down 22.7%

Japanese airlines have received 22.7 percent fewer year-end and New Year international flight reservations than a year earlier, according to data released by the carriers Thursday. The sharp decline comes amid fewer holidays between Dec. 23 and Jan. 5 and a cutback in international operations by Japan Airlines Corp., which is restructuring under court protection. [...]

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Year-end, New Year trips up for 1st time in 4 years

The number of Japanese planning to go on holiday for at least one night during the year-end and New Year holidays is up 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 29.35 million, major travel agency JTB Corp. said, the first year-on-year increase in four years. The number of overseas trips is projected to rise by [...]

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Year-end lottery tickets go on sale, attract early morning lineups

Year-End Jumbo lottery tickets went on sale across Japan on Nov. 24, with some 1,000 people queuing up at one lottery stand in Tokyo’s Ginza district from early in the morning. Up for grabs are 74 first prizes of 200 million yen each, 50-million-yen prizes for the numbers before and after the first prize number, [...]

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No executions carried out under Chiba’s watch

During the six months since she took office, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, a former member of the federation of Diet members promoting abolition of the death penalty, has ordered no executions. The last execution was carried out in July under former Justice Minister Eisuke Mori. The country currently has a total of 109 death-row prisoners. [...]

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Travel to hometowns for New Year’s holidays hits peak

Traffic was jammed on many of Japan’s expressways and bullet trains were overloaded with passengers as the annual ritual of traveling to hometowns for the year-end and New Year’s holidays reached its peak Wednesday. Reserved seats on shinkansen bullet trains from Tokyo to local cities were almost fully taken, while a number of passengers had [...]

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