Japan on the wrong track for rail tourists

Tourists are set to pay a whole lot more to travel by train in Japan. 

Japan’s transport authority recently announced price increases of over 50% for nationwide train passes, Travel Mole reports.

Some of the Japan Railways (JR) group’s regional train passes will also see increases of up to 50%.

Prices for JR East and JR Central, which include Tokyo, Nagano and Tohoku, are subject to the biggest price hikes.,

The five-day JR East Tohoku Area Pass, with unlimited travel including shinkansen bullet trains, goes up from 20,000 yen to 30,000 yen from October. That's a new price of around $321. 

The three-day JR Tokyo Wide Pass rises from 10,180 yen to 15,000 yen.

Also, the five-day Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass, which covers journeys between Nagoya and Takayama and Osaka with Kanazawa, goes up 39%.

JR Group said that as the price rises come into effect, more destinations will be covered by the passes. The rises still seem extortionate even though tt will boost the number of seats allocated for passes giving unlimited rail travel.

Rail passes in other regions such as the JR Kyushu and JR Hokkaido passes were also going up but by much less - 5% from 19,000 yen to 20,000 yen.

The JR nationwide 14-day pass, covering all trains across the country is priced at 80,000 yen, up from the current 47,250 yen.

The transport authority added that pass holders will receive certain perks, such as discounts at selected stores. Big whoopee do on that one. 

Prices for children aged between six and 11 are half that of the adult passes.

The old passes will remain on sale until September 30. So be quick, or be gouged. 

Image: Winsor Dobbin 

Why you can expect to pay more for your favourite wine

Warning. Wine lovers can expect to start paying more for their favourite bottle of wine.

And the price increase is coming sooner, rather than later.

You can blame Vladimir Putin and his Russian nutters for that news.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a surge in energy prices that are being passed on to the cost of wine industry supplies across the board, wine industry info site Vitisphere reports.

"With such sudden variations in prices and availability, 'we live from day to day'," says Philippe Cazaux, director of the Bordeaux Families co-operative group, which farms 5,000 hectares of vines, has 300 member growers and represents 10% of AOC Bordeaux.

He sums up the current situation: “We are extending deadlines and increasing costs: the people organising the bottling have turned into raw material suppliers.”

Pressure on supplies has led to “a very, very challenging time, which I've never experienced for dry goods,” says Pierre Cohen, managing director of Cellier des Princes in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Reporting increases ranging from 20 to 45% on bottles and boxes, Cohen also quotes supply delays of up to 25 weeks for capsules: The price for glass bottles is up 20% on this time last year. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought about “a lot of volatility and unpredictability”, says Jacques Bordat, president of the Federation of Glass Industries.

With oil prices surging 70% in the past year and transport costs rising; barrels, bottles cases, wine labels and capsules are all more expensive. 

Neville Yates, who imports high-end European wines into Australia for Eurocentric, says freight from Europe to Australia has doubled in price, too, but that was because of Covid. 

Add in a small 2021 harvest and domaine prices are up, supply down.

That is bad news all round for wine lovers.

Image: Emmanuele Latturolo on Scopio