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A Waymo rider-only robotaxi is seen during a test ride in San Francisco on Dec. 9, 2022. Alphabet -owned Waymo announced Monday that it will start testing its autonomous vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025, the company's first step toward international expansion. To start, Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually operate the Waymo vehicles to map key areas of the Japanese capital, including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō. Waymo will also test its robotaxis on a closed course in the U.S. built to mimic driving conditions in Japan. Waymo announced a series of expansions across the U.S. in 2024.

Persons: Waymo, Waymo hasn't, Nihon, Uber, Cruise Organizations: PACE, Nihon, CNBC, World Economic, Monet Technologies, Toyota, General Motors, Honda Locations: San Francisco, Tokyo, Tokyo's, Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, U.S, Japan, Miami, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Tokyo's Odaiba, robotaxis

☆ Japanese airline announces baggage delivery service to combat overcrowding
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-11 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Japan Airlines is now offering to drop travelers’ suitcases off at their hotels for them, for a fee. But the new program isn’t just about providing good customer service — it’s aimed at alleviating the burden on Tokyo’s overcrowded mass transit system. JAL flyers who avail themselves of the service will get 50 frequent flyer points credited to their accounts. The service is available in Haneda Airport’s Terminal 3 arrivals hall between 4 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. About 3.3 million foreign tourists visited Japan in July 2024, according to the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO), an all-time high.

Persons: — it’s, Overtourism Organizations: CNN — Japan Airlines, Haneda Airport, ” Japan Airlines, JAL, Haneda Airport’s, National Tourism Organization Locations: Haneda, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chuo, Ginza, Japan, North America

☆ Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-29 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. Mixiang tea goes globalNatalie Chiu and Charlie Winkworth-Smith, food scientists and founders of sparkling tea brand Saicho. The farmers couldn’t afford to lose their entire harvest, so they decided to go ahead and roast the bug-bitten tea leaves anyway. Lee says his Gui Fei tea is so popular it often sells out before it can even hit the retail market. Their two sons have joined the family business in recent years and help promote Gui Fei tea whenever they can.

Persons: Lee Ming, cheng, Gui Fei Oolong, Dong Ding Oolong, Oolong, Tea, Natalie Chiu, Charlie Winkworth, Smith, Saicho —, “, Junjie Lin, ”, Lin, Winkworth, Chiu, they’re, Clint Liang, Liang, Dong Ding, “ Gui Fei, Gui Fei, Lee, Chiang, Kuo Huan, don’t, Kuo, Maggie Hiufu Wong, Lee Te Organizations: CNN, Saicho, Harrods, Michelin, Tokyo Chuo, Growers Locations: Nantou, British, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United Kingdom, London, Taipei, Fujian, Lugu, Tokyo, Hsinchu, it’s, Nantou County, Songshan District, Hualien

Chuo Ward, Tokyo, Japan - February 23, 2018; Top luxury shopping streets with multi colored neon signs. For the first half of the year, luxury group LVMH this week reported " exceptional growth in Japan arising in particular from purchases made by Chinese travelers." SHANGHAI — Luxury brands are seeing a surge in sales in Japan, largely driven by purchases from Chinese travelers taking advantage of a weak yen, according to earnings results this month. The income segment covers families in mainland China earning at least 30,000 yuan a month ($4,140, or about $50,000 a year). besides Hong Kong, across most luxury brands."

Persons: Yves, Yves Saint Laurent, Trip.com, Xiao Hong Shu, netizen, Oliver Wyman, Louis Organizations: Yves Saint, Burberry, U.S, Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, South, Japan National Tourism Organization, CNBC Locations: Chuo Ward, Tokyo, Japan, Ginza, China, Southeast Asia, SHANGHAI, South Korea, Weibo, Sapporo, Hong Kong, Malaysia, France, Asia

☆ Hirotake Yano, Japanese billionaire founder of 100-yen chain Daiso, dies at 80
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Hirotake Yano, the Japanese billionaire founder of Daiso Industries who helped popularize the discounted dollar-shop concept, has died of heart failure. Yano’s net worth was about $1.9 billion at the time of his death, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It has grown into a retail empire, with over 4,360 stores across Japan and more than 990 overseas stores of the end of 2023, according to its website. Daiso first ventured overseas in 2001, opening branches in Taiwan and South Korea. The discount chain made over 550 billion yen ($ 3.6 billion) in sales as of February 2022, according to the privately-held company.

Persons: CNN — Hirotake Yano, Yano, Daiso Organizations: CNN, Daiso Industries, Bloomberg, Tokyo’s Chuo University, CouCou Locations: Hiroshima, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, United States, Seria

A man believed to have a gun was holed up in a post office in a Tokyo suburb on Tuesday and holding one hostage after releasing another, in an episode that was unsettling in Japan, where gun violence is extremely rare. An employee inside the post office, in Warabi city, called the police at around 2:15 p.m., saying there was a gunman inside, according to Taira Masuda, a spokesman for the police headquarters in Saitama Prefecture. Around 7:15 p.m., NHK, a public broadcaster, showed footage of the woman in her 20s walking out of the post office without injury. Another official, the mayor of Toda, said on social media that a man had fired a handgun at Toda Chuo General Hospital and fled on a motorcycle. In the broadcaster’s footage, it appeared that the woman who was released on Tuesday evening bowed as she left the post office.

Persons: Taira Masuda, Masuda, Toda Organizations: NHK, General Hospital Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, Toda city

☆ Toyota halts some production at two Japan plants after supplier accident
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor (7203.T), Japan's biggest automaker, has suspended operations at three lines in two domestic assembly plants due to an accident at a supplier's facility, a company spokesperson said. The incident at supplier Chuo Spring (5992.T), which makes engine and valve springs used in vehicles, also halted some production at group companies Toyota Auto Body and Toyota Industries (6201.T), the spokesperson said. Production in five lines at three Toyota Auto Body plants - all of the unit's lines - was stopped due to the accident, affecting production of minivans such as the Alphard as well as some Land Cruiser models, including for overseas markets. Toyota will decide later on Tuesday whether production at its affected plants would be resumed on Wednesday, its spokesperson said. Operations at all 14 of the automaker's domestic assembly plants ground to a halt in August due to a system malfunction.

Persons: Daniel Leussink, Rocky Swift, Christopher Cushing, Muralikumar Organizations: Toyota, Japan's, Chuo, Toyota Auto Body, Toyota Industries, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Tokyo

☆ Toyota Motor suspends some production after fire at supplier - Jiji
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo, Japan October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor (7203.T) suspended some production in at least five factories in Aichi and Mie prefectures from Monday after a fire at a supplier's facility, Jiji news service reported on Tuesday. The fire occurred at a Chuo Spring (5992.T) plant, Jiji said. Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Edgar Su, Jiji, Rocky Swift, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Toyota, Tokyo, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Aichi, Mie

☆ For Gen Z in Japan, a smile is worth $55. Hour-long classes aim to teach students how to smile again without a mask.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Amanda Goh | Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After getting used to wearing masks, Gen Z Japanese students are taking classes to learn how to smile. A private, hour-long smiling lesson with Kawano costs 7,700 Japanese yen, or $55. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon"People have not been raising their cheeks under a mask or trying to smile much," Kawano told the New York Times in early May. "People train their body muscles, but not their faces," Kawano told the Times. A private, hour-long lesson with her costs 7,700 Japanese yen, or $55, per Reuters.

Persons: Gen, Keiko Kawano, —, Himawari Yoshida, Kim Kyung, Kawano, Yoshida, Yamaguchi Organizations: Service, Reuters, Sokei Art School, REUTERS, New York Times, Kawano, Smile, IBM Japan, Times, NHK, Chuo University Department of Psychology Locations: Japan, Tokyo

☆ Things to do in Nagoya, Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( John Walton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In the years since, the city has proven the opposite is true, according to Nagoya residents Lena Yamaguchi and Elisabeth Lloris. Ruben Earth/Getty ImagesIf you’ve traveled by Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, you’ve passed through Nagoya, and might even remember the skyscraper district around its central railway station. Just 45 minutes from Nagoya Station on the private (non-JR) Meitetsu railway, the area between Inuyama station and its castle has been sympathetically restored in recent years. Back in Nagoya, a few kilometers east of Nagoya Castle you’ll find the Tokugawa Art Museum, one of Japan’s finest private museums, which holds several National Treasures of Japan thanks to its connection with the Tokugawa clan dynasty. If cars are your thing, then the Toyota Automobile Museum, about 45 minutes east of Nagoya Station, features some 140 historical vehicles.

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