With Japan preparing to restart a nuclear reactor, the world’s largest, in the coastal prefecture of Niigata, a Newsweek map shows the locations of the country’s nuclear power plants.

They’re at it again. China and Japan — frenemies, trading partners and uneasy neighbors with a tortured, bloody history they still struggle to navigate — are freshly at each other’s rhetorical throats as 2026 begins.

Lately a diplomatic spat with China has begun depressing the number of people coming to Japan from that country—but even this does not seem to have much deterred Japan’s leaders from their course. Three related trends have fuelled what anxious Japanese have come to call the “foreigner problem”.

Foreign visitors have made up 10 per cent of clothing retailer Uniqlo’s sales in Japan for the first time, highlighting the tailwinds from a tourism boom and historically weak yen.

Japan’s lack of public trash cans often surprises visitors, but cultural norms and safety concerns explain why travelers carry their trash all day.

With their sights set on an income-generating investment they could also live in, two Californians set out to buy a traditional home in the city of Atami.

Japan will triple its departure tax from July 2026, raising exit fees from JPY 1,000 to JPY 3,000 for all travellers. Here’s how it works, who pays, upcoming JESTA fees, and what it means for your Japan travel plans.