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Groping Epidemic On Tokyo Trains Has Us Watching Our Butt

On the whole, Japan is a dream for travelers; it's full of polite people who go out of their way to help tourists. But that can all come to an abrupt stop when you get on a train in Tokyo (or, to be fair, probably any big city). That's when the gropers appear, and we don't mean the fish.

Authorities are warning travelers—especially females—to watch out for subway passengers who feel the need to grope them. They say they're particularly concerned at the moment because many of the recently-nabbed gropers say they have been inspired by websites on groping. One recent offender said in his defense: "He had viewed a website that detailed how and when to grope people and wanted to confirm if the hints worked..." And he'd even traveled 60 miles out of his way to ride a train line the website listed as being "easy" for groping.

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Tags: Helicopters / Tokyo Travel / Travel News / Fashion Travel / NRT / Luxury Travel / → All Tags

The $10 Million Dollar Hermes Helicopter Will Fly The Tokyo Skies

While we realize that this isn't exactly the best week to bring up helicopter travel on account of "The Horror On The Hudson" this last weekend, still we can't deny the cool factor of this story out of Tokyo.

After l'Hélicoptère par Hermès, or the Hermes Helicopter, debuted in late 2007, we were wondering what billionaire's yacht would sport it first. Turns out it won't be the private playtoy of a person at all, since a Tokyo company has purchased the 'copter designed by the French fashion house, with intent to offer flights between the central district of Akasaka and Narita International Airport. Taking the Eurocopter EC 315 will cut the travel time by an hour, and eliminate dealing with any ground traffic.

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Tags: Robots / Japan Travel / Technology / → All Tags

The New Robotic Cooks From Japan Will Give You Haunting Nightmares

We've been pretty good about welcoming our new robotic overlords, up to and including thanking them for making travel-related customer service less of a nightmare. But there's something disquieting about a robot that can verbally take our order, independently interpret our request, and then cut up sushi rolls and serve them to us. Without getting into too many details, that something has to do with the words "fish" and "poison" and the phrase "robot revolution."

In any case, several cutting-edge lines of cooking robots debuted last week at the Tokyo International Food Machinery and Technology Expo last week. The one in the picture, a product of Japanese company Toyo Riki, can prepare and flip pancakes. Really neat! This next one, more of a serving robot, can pick up fruit without bruising it and serve delicate pastries. Insanely creepy!

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Tags: Theme Parks / Hello Kitty / Tokyo Travel / Tama District / Toys / Sanrio / → All Tags

Immerse Yourself In Weirdness at Tama's Hello Kitty Museum

Navigating Tokyo itself - a dizzying maze of twenty-three wards, each technically a city unto itself - is difficult enough. Now throw in the twenty-six additional cities that comprise Western Tokyo, the combination of rail and metro lines that service them, and the Japanese penchant for hiding all kinds of singular attractions in the most unlikely places. It's just unfair to expect tourists to know where to go or what to see.

The western Tama District contains one of the most quintessentially Japanese - which is to say, one of the most off-beat - attractions in all of Tokyo. At the back of the Tama Center, a sprawling shopping plaza plus hotel plus park, sits Sanrio Puroland. Otherwise known as the Hello Kitty Museum, this is a gigantic indoor theme park turned over to the characters from what might loosely be called the Hello Kitty universe.

It's like a Willy Wonka Factory of weirdness, filled with gigantic dolls and puppets all addressing you in high-pitched Japanese.

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Tags: Airport Transportation / NRT / Tokyo / Airports / → All Tags

On the Road Again: How to Reach Tokyo-Narita

Your flight has landed, you've claimed your luggage and now you're trying to get the hell out of the airport. To erase confusion and get your on your way, all week long at Jaunted we will be detailing the various ways to get to and from major airports, and what those modes cost, from cheapest to the big blowout entrance. Got any tips or an airport suggestion? Let us know.

Tokyo's Narita is a tricky airport in terms of airport transportation; there is no one single uber-fast way, and yet the 38-mile commute to the airport can cost an arm and a leg if you don't know what you're doing. Our best advice? Avoid taxis and town cars at all costs; read below to see why.

· Keisei Railway: When in doubt as to the cheapest mode of airport transportation, just follow the locals, and chances are they'll be hopping aboard a Keisei Limited Express, which is a normal commuter train making stops along the route from Narita into town. For a bit of an upgrade and a chance at a reserved seat, the Keisei railway also runs the slightly more expensive Skyliner to Keisei Ueno station.
Total cost: 1000 on the Limited to 2000 on the Skyliner ($10 to $20) per person, each way
Total time: 75 minutes, 60 minutes

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Tags: Architecture Travel / Beer Travel / Tokyo / Design Travel / → All Tags

Where to Tipple in Tokyo: The Asahi Beer Hall

Twenty years old and still partying like any good Philippe Starck structure should, Tokyo's Asahi Beer Hall is known as more than just a hot piece of architectural history on the banks of the Sumida River, but also for being a damned good place to eat and imbibe. So long as you can down Asahi with the best of the office workers, some of whom wander over from the Asahi headquarters next door, then you'll feel right at home.

Outside of the beer hall, the striking modern lines of the Starck design remain an attraction, made all the more interesting by "La Fiamma," the flame, perched atop the roof like froth in a beer glass. Over the years, this gold swish, a trademark form of Starck which can be seen throughout his other works, has gained nicknames such as "the golden turd," while Asahi executives think of it as the burning soul of the company.

We tend to take a positive view of the architectural flair of it, as it truly stands out from the other grey and black office buildings that dominate Tokyo's skyline. Next time you take a drinking tour of Japan, be sure to send us a postcard; we appreciate a hearty foreign bonding experience over booze just as much as the next salaryman.

Related Stories:
· Asahi Super Dry Hall [GlassandSteelandStone]
· Japan's New Asahi Betters With Age [Jaunted]
· Architecture Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: naoyafujii]

Tags: Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / NRT / → All Tags

Narita International Airport Is In The Future

You don't have to have any geek cred to know about Japan's advances in technology. It's popularly believed that Japanese consumers get new tech three to five years before we do, making a trip to Tokyo to ogle cell phones feel like a preview of the 2012 Research in Motion CES booth -- only with killer fashions.

Narita International Airport probably doesn't have robots that will carry your luggage or mind-reading software in its cafes. But we think it's pretty forward that Terminal 2 has free wireless access. (Terminals 1 and 3 have Boingo access, which according to our metaphor means they are stuck here in the present with us.)

Hey, if you're reading this in the future, will you write to us and reassure us that more airports will follow Narita's lead?

Related Stories:
· Don't Fear Your Narita Layover [Jaunted]
· Catch the Northern Lights (Without Going North) [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]

Tags: The Hills / Celeb Travel / Paris Hilton / Lauren Conrad / Doug Reinhardt / → All Tags

"The Hills" Season Five Preview: Doug Dares To Date After LC

At least one person is taking full advantage of "The Hills"' break between seasons: Doug Reinhardt, former dater of LC and Stephanie, traded up over Super Bowl weekend from Amanda Bynes to Paris Hilton, who took him in first class on United Airlines on a "business" trip to Japan. Who needs "Bromance" when you have romance -- or a facsimile thereof?

Perhaps because he decided to help Ms. Hilton cast the inevitable MTV-Japan "My Japanese Best Friend Slash Stefaniesque Accessory," Doug shows up nowhere in the just-released trailer for "The Hills"' fifth and potentially final season. (Nor does much of LC and Lo's house, which TMZ discovered can now be rented for a paltry $11,000 per month. What recession, indeed?) But we do get LC and Heidi crying together and Spencer talking to a shady lady. Try as we might, we just can't love "The City" this much.

With or without the burrito heir, "The Hills" returns March 24. If Paris herself makes an appearance, will the reality-TV world fall in on itself? Tune in to find out!

Related Stories:
· Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt Take Off for Tokyo [E!]
· LC Breaks It Off With Doug: "I Always Thought You Were Way Too Nice To Me" [Jaunted]
· Doug Dates Stephanie: "What Up, Shady Guy?" [Jaunted]
· "The Hills" Season 5 Trailer [YouTube]
· LC Offering Old Pad For Monthly Use [TMZ]
· Zac and Vanessa Arrive To Save Japanese Tourism [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Parisfan.org]

Tags: Biofuels / Japan Airlines / Green Travel / Airlines / → All Tags

Camelina Biofuel Will Save the World, JAL Says

Did you hear that Japan Airlines have just saved the world? That's how they've made their maiden camelina biofuel flight sound. They did a 90-minute test flight out of Tokyo on Friday and Japan Airlines president Haruka Nishimatsu said:

Today is an extremely important day for Japan Airlines, for aviation, and for the environment.

Just a little over the top, but we are pleased to see airlines jumping on the greener flying bandwagon. The test flight used a mix of camelina, a second generation biofuel, and regular jet fuel, and it all happened without any dramas. Keep it up, camelina-lovers.

If an airline begins using biofuel on its flights, will that make you more inclined to pick them over a regular gas guzzler? Let us know in comments below.

Related Stories:
· Japan Airlines Tests World's First Camelina Flight [The Age]
· Japan Airlines Will Fly On Camelina, Whatever That Is [Jaunted]
· Biofuels Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: St Stev]

Tags: Celeb Travel / Zac Efron / Vanessa Hudgens / High School Musical / NAA / → All Tags

Zac and Vanessa Arrive To Save Japanese Tourism

Step aside, Super World Travelers! Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens celebrated the Japanese premiere of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" at Tokyo's Prince Hotel just days after arriving, like the Pitt-Jolie clan, at Narita International Airport.

Will all this celebrity publicity boost Japan's ailing tourism industry? The number of foreign visitors to the island plummeted 24 percent last December alone, despite a 0.1 percent increase for 2008 overall.

Locally, 2009 started with a bang as over 99 million people celebrated the New Year at Shinto shrines all over Japan, some undoubtedly to offer prayers for economic success this year. And a just-announced joint tourism initiative with Hong Kong should bolster flagging numbers later on in the year. But if Japan's looking for spokeskids, they could do worse than the Efron-Hudgens team. After all, if they're not employed by Disney any more, the kids might appreciate the work.

Related Stories:
· Number of foreign tourists visiting Japan plunges 24.1% in Dec [Japan Today]
· New Year pilgrims hit record in recession-hit Japan [Reuters via Yahoo!]
· Hong Kong, Japan launch tourism exchange year [China View]
· Japan coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: JustJared]

Tags: Super World Travelers / Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie / Jolie-Pitt Twins / Airport Photo Shoot / NAA / → All Tags

Knox and Viv Jolie-Pitt Smile for the Cameras at Tokyo Airport

After much speculation about "Where are the twins?" Super World Travelers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie showed off their newest team members, Knox and Vivienne, today at the Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

This is first time the world has seen the twins since their glam photo shoot a few weeks after they were born. It's a good thing too. We hear President Obama was just about to issue a search for them. (Star and Us Weekly magazines have very powerful lobbyists working for them.)

The twins were also assisted by their teammates--old man Maddox, savvy vet Zahara, rising phenom Pax and sophomore star Shiloh. If we did the math correctly, the Jolie-Pitt championship league travels with eight players. And it turns out, the team apparently likes to handle their own luggage.

"Our kids are always packing," [Angelina Jolie] told Entertainment Tonight. "They like to pack; it's a game in our house.

"It can get very hard trying to find 20 minutes to close your eyes if you've been up since four in the morning," Jolie said. "We travel so much, we never have to adjust. We change school time to four in the afternoon if we have to!"

We just hope that newcomers Knox and Viv can keep up with the two-a-days. After Japan, the family is set to land in Long Island in March for a few months.

Related Stories:
· Jolie-Pitt Family Arrives in Japan [Us Weekly]
· Super World Travelers [Jaunted]

[Photos via Us Weekly]

Tags: Biofuels / Japan Airlines / Green Travel / Airlines / → All Tags

Japan Airlines Will Fly On Camelina, Whatever That Is

Those hi-tech Japanese may not always come across as particularly environmentally friendly but when it comes to alternative fuel for planes, the national carrier JAL is keen to jump on the front of the bandwagon. And after the sketchy beginnings to their biofuel plans--when the energy source was still a secret--there are more details now which warm our greenie hearts.

JAL is now proposing to make a demonstration flight using a blend of biofuel and regular kerosene, and the biofuel's main component will come from camelina. That's a crop often grown in the northern Plains area of the US which fits the green requirements of not competing with regular food crops.

The test flight should take place on January 30 out of Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and it'll be a quickie--just one hour. We think it'd be nice if Japan combined its technological know-how with a bit of green biofuel love, so we say keep it up, JAL.

Related Stories:
· Montana Biodiesel Crop to be Tested on Airliner [CNN]
· JAL Jumps in the Biofuel Queue Too [Jaunted]
· Biofuels coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Hyougushi]