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A new collaboration between the Karuizawa Hoshino Area resort district and Shinano Railway will bring a culinary twist to sightseeing rail travel in central Japan. Beginning in May 2026, the partners will launch a seasonal dining experience aboard the Rokumon sightseeing train, combining regional cuisine with panoramic rail journeys through Nagano Prefecture. Rokumon train photo courtesy of PR Times press release linked at the bottom of this article. The initiative introduces

Developers behind the large-scale redevelopment of the Uchisaiwaicho 1-chome district in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward announced on April 14 that the project will be named HIBIYA CROSSPARK. Exterior CG rendering courtesy of R.E. Port News. The project is a major mixed-use development spanning roughly 1.1 million square meters and divided into three zones: North, Central, and South. The North District will include the new main building of The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, along with a mixed-u

On March 20th, 2026, Nicholas Smith of CLSA appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia  to discuss why he believes the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will need to raise interest rates as the weak yen and rising energy costs place increasing pressure on Japan’s economy. The interview took place ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington, but Smith’s analysis remains particularly relevant as markets now turn their attention to the BOJ’s upcoming April 27 - 28 Monetary P

Existing condominium transactions in the Greater Tokyo Area (GTA) rose slightly in March, extending a 17-month streak of year-on-year (YoY) growth, according to data released April 10th by the Real Estate Information Network for East Japan (REINS). A total of 5,001 resale condominium units were transacted across the GTA during the month, inching up 0.2% from a year earlier. The GTA consists of the following prefectures: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama. Broken down by GTA p

On April 9th, real estate data provider Tokyo Kantei released its latest report on average prices for newly built, wood-frame single-family homes (SFH) across Japan’s major metropolitan areas for March 2026. Photo by Susann Schuster on Unsplash The survey tracks subdivided home prices with land areas between 100 and 300 square meters, located within a 30-minute walk of the nearest train station or within a 20-minute bus ride, where both the land and building are freehold own