A Japan travel company analyzed 50 top onsen destinations to find the best for winter visits. Hakone (surprise!) won with 60+ bath houses, affordable prices (some just 500 yen), and easy Tokyo access. Find out which other locations made the cut.
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When Marin Group closed 21 soaplands overnight, cast found out via a LINE message. Classified as independent contractors, they got none of the protections full-time workers receive. The incident highlights the precarious position of sex workers in Japan's nightlife industry.
This is one in the latest of a long string of such cases. Japan still doesn't have a system for tracking sexual offenses by caregivers, so even when ppl ARE caught, many can find work elsewhere after release.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested 39-year-old Wakamatsu Kōjirō, an elementary teacher in Ōta City, on charges of filming a 3rd grade girl's underwear. Wakamatsu then confessed to taking such pics for 17 YEARS & said he deleted 5K images before his arrest.
[Insider] Many foreign travelers want to try love hotels when they come to Japan. Not many, however, are aware of the different types of love hotels. For example, the "captive" love hotel that literally locks you inside...
In Japan, realtors must disclose suicide, murder, death by fire, and deaths that caused decomposition for three years on rental properties and indefinitely on properties for sale. Death by natural causes? That's another matter.
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The man arrested in Tokyo for exploiting a 16-year-old runaway arranged her meetings via social media, charging 10,000 yen ($63) for sex with a condom and 50,000 yen ($315) without. He kept most of the money himself.
A typical nomikai in Japan can easily set you back 6,000 yen ($38) - cost that has younger workers opting out. 56.4% of workers in one Nippon Life survey consider "nomi-nication" unnecessary.
They're supposed to be clearly labeled in our stock provider but this one was snuck into "illustrations" without any indicator 😡
Our last article unintentionally used an AI image that wasn't properly labeled in our stock photo provider. Apologies - we're scrubbing it now.
Unfortunately, you're right. This image wasn't properly labeled AI and we used it by accident. I'm scrubbing it now
Japan's scout groups have long lured vulnerable women into sex work. Increasingly, such groups are sending workers overseas - and Japanese solo female travelers unconnected to the industry are suffering the consequences.
Japan's traditional kissa coffee shops peaked in 1981 but have steadily declined since. Here's how the Shōwa-retro cafés are fighting back against chains like Starbucks and staging a comeback.
You've probably seen APA Hotels everywhere in Japan—over 900 properties with that orange-and-black logo. What you might not know: the budget chain places books in guest rooms denying the Nanjing Massacre, written by the founder himself.
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Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs determined that AI output closely resembling copyrighted work could be ruled a copyright violation, and the AI output itself would likely be uncopyrightable. But global enforcement? That's tricky.
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Tokyo and Osaka have women-only train cars during rush hour, marked with red or pink signs in Japanese and English. Some lines run them only in the morning; others do it for the evening rush as well.
Suwa's Katakurakan onsen features a "sennin buro" or thousand-person bath with marble tiles that make you feel like you've stepped back in time to Rome. It actually holds closer to 100 people (but it's still cool).
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Japan has had eight empresses in its history. The last one, Go-Sakuramachi, held the title as the country's 117th Emperor from 1762 until 1771. During the Meiji Era, however, Japan changed the law to ensure only men could ascend to the throne.
Japanese youth have a new word for dropping friends they can't afford: "songiri" (loss-cutting), borrowed from stock trading. With a night out hitting 6,000 yen and wages stagnant, fewer wanna pay the cost of keeping up.
Kabukicho's Toyoko area has become a gathering spot for Japan's runaways - and a hunting ground for adults who exploit them. Police arrested a 37-year-old man who held a 16-year-old for 20 days and forced her into paid sex with 20 to 30 men.
The myth of Japanese "indirectness" needs to die. Japan's Ministry of Health receives 1.3 million workplace abuse cases yearly - proving that people in Japan can be as blunt, rude, and inconsiderate as anyone else.
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Google searches for popular Japanese combinis exploded by 5,000% in August as "combini tourism" keeps taking off. Tourists are flocking to experience tastes they can't get in convenience stores back home.
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The Shibuya fire suspect's posts on X hinted at a bigger plan. "I couldn't rent a car," he wrote, "so I switched to cardboard." It's unclear what he originally intended to do with a vehicle.
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In Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku, udon noodles are so beloved that visitors go on "udon pilgrimages," hopping between tiny shops serving hand-kneaded bowls for under 300 yen. You can even hire an Udon Taxi whose driver maps out the best stops.
Tourists tossing coins into UNESCO World Heritage ponds at Japan's Oshino Hakkai jumped from 4,400 recovered coins in 2024 to 18,000 in 2025. The coins corrode and leach metals, harming the delicate ecosystem.
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Japan now enforces fines for 113 categories of bicycle infractions, from riding with umbrellas to smartphone use while cycling. Some critics say that's way too many types of violations for anyone to obey.
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