Green fingers: Japan sending garden-repair teams abroad

Tokyo (AFP) - Tokyo plans to send green fingers to every corner of the world on a mission to spruce up Japanese-style gardens that have fallen into disrepair. There are some 500 traditional gardens scattered across the globe -- from France to the United ... ( read original story ...)

Amazon Is Opening a Pop-Up Liquor Bar in Tokyo

Amazon.com Inc. is opening a bar. For 10 days, the web retailer is going to sell beer, wine, sake and cocktails in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district to promote alcoholic products sold on its website in Japan. While Amazon has opened physical bookstores ... ( read original story ...)

Japan, Hong Kong shares follow Wall St higher in quiet trade

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.3 percent to 20,675.44 a day after closing at its highest in two years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.7 percent to 28,392.77 but Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7 percent to 5,660.40. ( read original story ...)

Japan’s Election Becomes a Battle of the Brands

With little to choose from in terms of policy between the two main parties fighting Japan’s general election ... planning to vote for Koike’s party in a survey published by Kyodo news published late Sunday, compared with 24 percent for the LDP. ( read original story ...)

Grand opening of Square Enix Cafe Osaka!

Square Enix is opening up a cafe in Osaka, which will open on October 14! To celebrate, they will be hosting a preview night on Friday, October 13 from 18:00~21:00 JST at the cafe, located on the 1st floor of Osaka Umeda Yodobashi Underground. Entrance ... ( read original story ...)

IOC, Tokyo organizers aim to cut costs for the 2020 Olympics

TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo organizing committee wrapped up a two-day project review on Wednesday vowing to cut costs for the 2020 Games and address concerns over water pollution in Tokyo Bay. IOC vice-president John Coates ... ( read original story ...)

Scoot budget airline now flying to Honolulu via Osaka

But among budget carriers, Scoot will probably be competing mostly with Jetstar on Hawaii flights, and Jetstar plus AirAsia on Osaka flights. This is good news for cheap flight fans, mostly because it brings a huge amount of extra competition in the budget ... ( read original story ...)