October 6, Friday, 2023

1. One year after Japan fully reopened its borders to foreign visitors, inbound tourism is booming. Arrivals in August topped 2.15 million, about 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels. But the country’s hospitality sector has been struggling to keep up with the demand. One pressing concern is that there aren’t enough qualified tour guides. The shortage is so severe, it’s been forcing some companies to turn people away.
2. Sources say the northern Japanese city of Sapporo has decided to give up its bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. They say instead, the city intends to aim to host the Games in 2034 or later. The city suspended efforts to build momentum for its bid in December last year, following corruption and bid-rigging scandals linked to the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021. 3. Prolific Norwegian author and playwright Jon Fosse has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy said on Thursday that Fosse is being awarded the prize “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” Fosse was born in 1959 and began his career in 1983. He chose to craft his works in Nynorsk, one of Norway’s two written languages. He has published numerous novels, poetry collections and children’s books.