Nipponica

The major Japanese air carrier has in recent years faced multiple similar drinking incidents involving its pilots, and it comes after a previous warning given to JAL in December by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The ministry said JAL employees lacked due consideration for safety, urging the company to compile measures by the end of the month to prevent a repeat.

“We take this issue very seriously and deeply apologise for causing trouble and worries,” JAL president Mitsuko Tottori told a press conference, adding that her company will fire the pilot.

The fact that this pilot stayed employed this long is outrageous. This guy should have been fired on the spot for putting himself and hundreds of passengers and crew in danger.

Japan's JR East looks to roll out an autonomous train-operating system by 2035 on its Yamanote line, which loops around the heart of Tokyo, with plans to bring similar systems to shinkansen bullet trains around the same time.

The company, officially called East Japan Railway, seeks to fight growing labor shortages by enhancing operational efficiency and optimizing staffing under a business plan unveiled Tuesday.

"Driving jobs will be eliminated, but tasks that need to be performed by humans will only increase," President Yoichi Kise told a news conference the same day.

Now this has a great chance of success. Rail has less variables to deal with compared to free range vehicles (but still a complicated problem). Once Yamanote is perfected, this can be debuted anywhere.

Japanese airlines including All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are finding ways to collaborate to reduce costs and boost efficiency despite fierce competition, as their domestic businesses effectively operate in the red amid a sharp decline in business passengers.

ANA and JAL have installed shared ticket-checking systems at gates in 75 Japanese airports, or 80% of the country's total. Each airline previously had its own equipment, requiring separate personnel for gate system management. This led to inefficiencies like passengers being unable to use gates operated by other airlines, leading to a standardization push.

It was always very strange to have dedicated ticket scanning machine for each airline. This not only makes sense financially but also just for common sense. Not everything needs to be a custom solution.

After a string of operational incidents attributed to pilot error, the transport ministry issued a stern warning to ANA Wings Co., an ANA Group member, on Friday. The ministry has ordered the airline to submit a report on preventive measures by Sept. 19.

Genuinely don’t know how integrated the Wings pilot training is with ANA proper. If they have the same training program, shouldn’t this warning go to the parent company and have all training reviewed?

Scheduled to open a hotel at Koiwai Farm in Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture, in spring 2026, JR East plans to use flying cars for transfers to and from Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line. The company also plans to provide aerial sightseeing tours of Koiwai Farm and Mt. Iwate, intending to establish the service as a new tourism resource.

JR East formed a capital partnership in May with SkyDrive Inc., a startup that develops flying cars. For commercial operations, the company plans to use SkyDrive’s aircraft, which can carry a pilot and two passengers for a total of three people.

Nice to see that the future sky traffic jams are coming to the Inaka too.

The new direct services will shorten the current 45-minute trip to Keisei's nearest station to the tower by about 10 minutes and allow passengers to reach Tokyo Skytree without transferring to a local line, Keisei Electric Railway President Takao Amano said in the recent interview.

Keisei Electric Railway runs some train operations linking Tokyo and Narita airport, a major air transportation hub located outside the capital in neighboring Chiba Prefecture.

The more connections to Narita the better but is Skytree and eastern Tokyo a key area for additional connections?

Certain chips shipped before 2017 are vulnerable, Sony said, acknowledging the issue after inquiries from Kyodo News. Over 1.8 billion FeliCa chips have been produced so far, powering transit cards as well as employee and student identification cards.

Cybersecurity experts warn attackers could alter transit cards, disrupt electronic payments or forge passes for sensitive facilities, with one analyst describing it as an "extremely serious" problem that undermines trust in infrastructure.

While it is good that the cards that have this flaw are almost a decade old, it is still a big vulnerability. The move to digital cards and (unfortunately) QR codes is pressing forward, but FeliCa is still the core of the Japan transit network.

Travelers arriving in Japan must go through immigration, which verifies their eligibility to enter the country, as well as a customs inspection for illegal items. At each station, travelers submit their passport and declaration information. Consolidating the system will shorten the procedures for inbound tourists and Japanese residents returning from overseas.

The airports will use "joint kiosks" that let passengers submit all necessary information for entry at once. The system verifies identity by using a photo, fingerprint scanning and other information submitted in advance of arrival.

Great. Next let’s get rid of the paper re-entry permits that get stapled into my passport every time I leave the country.

Naoki Fujii, 64, a former vice-minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, took office as the president of NAA in June. Regarding the functional enhancement of Narita Airport, located in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo, by adding a new runway and extending another, he stated, "It's meaningful to do what Haneda can't. We will leverage Narita's strengths." In his comments to various media outlets, he also expressed his intention to focus on diversifying the international flight network and expanding low-cost carrier (LCC) flights.

He emphasized the advantage of Narita's dedicated terminal for LCCs, stating, "We want to increase the number of people who choose to fly from Narita because of the lower fares," showing enthusiasm for the expansion of LCCs. He also mentioned strengthening the acceptance of business jets.

It is good that Narita is slowing finding its niche after Haneda’s expansion tanked Narita as the international hub in Tokyo. But, please, install a proper ceiling in Terminal 3. It just looks so bad as it is.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) said Thursday that, together with a U.S. startup, it hopes to have electric "air taxis" whizzing over Japan from as early as 2027.

ANA and California-based Joby Aviation said they will establish a joint venture with a view to deploy more than 100 of the five-seater aircraft.

An ANA spokesman said on Thursday that the aircraft, designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 320 kph, could be in service from as early as 2027.

ANA bringing traffic jams to the skies of Tokyo Bay.