For the first time in 44 years, in the first half of 2015 there were more inbound tourists than Japanese going overseas. The forecast for inbound tourists for 2015 is now around 18m.

Hasel Foods is the only company in Japan making freshly-cooked Baklava. It is all hand-made and requires years of study and practice to make well.

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea has knocked the stuffing out of the tourism industry there. Apparently the number of Chinese tourists fell by 54% in June.

Sales of residential property to Chinese and Taiwanese are up 70% in the first quarter of 2015, according to leading Taiwan listed realtor, Sinyi Realty.

The gist of a meanwhile deleted article on Yahoo Japan News was that it was highly likely that short-term hosting of private rooms to travelers would become legal, under the framework of the Special Zones law.

This last week, Itochu entered into an exclusive license with California-based Ifeelgoods, the USA's leading online digital rewards company, to start offering digital content to recipients here in Japan.

It almost seems like there is a group controlling the Narita Airport governing body that has gone to significant lengths to build an abomination called Terminal 3, as a means of undermining the LCCs.

Today we want to cover another superfood -- natto. WebMD says that a number of the active ingredients in Natto, including Nattokinase and Vitamin K2, help to control cardiovascular diseases.

Over the last three years we have been bringing mostly young people in their 20's to Japan for 4-6 weeks, and assigning them to write stories on their experiences all over the country.

One of the most frustrating things for tourists coming to Japan is how to get their cell phone working. A new law restricts members of the public from buying pre-paid phones without proper person identification.