INCREDIBLE new ‘before and after’ images show the almighty clear-up operation that has got Japan back on its feet just under a year after the devastating tsunami.
On Friday 11 March last year, waves up to 130ft high hit small towns along the north-east coast of the country.
Powerful video footage shows ports being engulfed by a surge of dirty water and debris as locals ran or drove for their lives.
Read the rest of the story: Japan: One year on.

Almost a year after the March 11 disasters struck Japan and hit its tourism sector, authorities are still finding ways to draw tourists back.
Koreans and Singaporeans have consistently ranked among the top 10 inbound tourists to Japan before the March 11 disasters, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami, which knocked out the cooling systems of the Fukushima plant’s reactors.
Almost a year after the disasters hit, fears of a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant still linger in the minds of would-be tourists, making travel to Japan …

Southeast Asias largest budget carrier AirAsia Friday said its joint venture entity AirAsia Japan has won approval from Japanese authorities to begin commercial flights.
Malaysias AirAsia and Japans All Nippon Airways last year announced they had formed a joint venture to establish a low-cost airline that will be based in Tokyo.
AirAsia said it expects to launch commercial flights to international and domestic destinations in August.
Read the rest of the story: AirAsia-ANA win approval for budget carrier in Japan.

Winter in Japan has begun with the best snowfalls in seven years.
A little more than a month into the season, resorts such as Niseko and Rusutsu on the northern-most island of Hokkaido have had more than nine metres of snow and good falls have been reported at the popular Hakuba and Shiga Kogen slopes on the main island of Honshu.
During the past month, Japanese resorts have received regular storms bearing the light powder the region is famous for. Quite simply, its dumping. The question is: where are the skiers?
The Niseko-based …

The builders of Tokyo Sky Tree have announced some of the technologies that have been installed to deal with the winter weather, after it was confirmed that chunks of snow and ice had fallen from the upper portion of the structure to the street below between January and March this year.
Read the rest of the story: Locals worried by ice, snow falling from Tokyo Sky Tree ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion.

The exodus of business people from Tokyo on the 155-minute bullet-train journey to the relative calm of Osaka this year gave restaurants in Japan’s second- biggest city a chance to show their talents to some new diners.
The nuclear-disaster worry has faded, though some of the nation’s finest cuisine remains in Osaka — it won more stars in the Michelin guide released in October. Osaka’s offerings include the finest traditional cuisine, including kushi katsu deep-fry and udon noodles, alongside European and Asian fare.
Here are our top choices for business dining in …

EVENING was falling in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto, and I was tucking myself into a container slightly larger than a refrigerator. I pulled down the shade and, after a bit of contorting, lay down, the wall a few inches from my feet. It was a dainty little space, about 3 ¼ feet wide and 6 ½ feet long, charmingly traditional with rice-paper latticework and two woven-reed mats. I felt like an origami crane as I folded my 6-foot-2-inch frame into this “tatami capsule.”
The eight units at Capsule Ryokan …

The leaders of Japan and Russia agreed Saturday that the two countries will discuss a bilateral territorial dispute "in a quiet atmosphere."

In a meeting held prior to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Hawaii, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reaffirmed the need to solve the territorial issue before signing a peace treaty, a senior Japanese official said.
Medvedev invited Noda to Russia. The Japanese leader said he appreciates the invitation and will study it, according to the official.
Read the rest of the story: Japan, Russia …

Antique lovers won’t need to travel all over Japan to find their treasures this weekend, because more than 250 dealers from Hokkaido to Kyushu are set to gather at the Yokohama Kotto World antique fair.
Dealers will have a variety of artworks on hand, including Japanese and Western antiques, toys, curios and crafts. In total, organizers believe around 300,000 pieces will be available for both seasoned antique collectors and amateurs to hunt through.
Read the rest of the story: Japan’s antiques in one place.

It sounds like a story ripped from the parody-filled pages of The Onion, but some Japanese lawmakers really do want to build a "backup city" that would take over the functions of Tokyo, including tourism, in the event of a catastrophe.
The idea was floated last month at a Tokyo luncheon, with a follow-up in The Telegraph last week. "The idea of being able to have a backup, a spare battery for the functions of the nation … isn’t this really a good idea?" Hajime Ishii, a parliamentarian representing the ruling …