This Lightweight, Anti-fog Snorkel Kit Is a ‘Great Size’ for Travel — and It’s Nearly 40% Off at Amazon

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Shoppers say it’s a “must-have” for your next beach vacation.

<p>Travel + Leisure / Madison Woiten</p>

Travel + Leisure / Madison Woiten

If you’re an adventurous traveler, you’re likely looking forward to the wide array of activities that summer vacations have to offer. At the top of this list? Snorkeling. But especially in a post-Covid era when our awareness of health is at an all-time high, it’s certainly not preferable to rent a snorkel set that has already been used by travelers in the past. Plus, you don’t want to waste precious vacation time hunting down where you can purchase a snorkel set ahead of your beach day.

Once again, Amazon has come to the rescue with the perfect, packable solution: the Zeeporte Snorkel Set. Currently on sale for 39 percent off at Amazon, this lightweight kit will allow

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Shoutenguide: Tokyo’s Best Shopping Streets

What department stores are for rich housewives, shoutengai (shopping streets) are for communities. Bustling hubs of activity, there are over 2,400 in Tokyo alone. Tokyo Weekends has visited many and picked our favorite retro shopping arcades and streets. Every shoutengai on our list has over 100 shops, making it worth a trip.

They all hark back to the good old days, when the Japanese economy was booming enough to put large, well-built signs and funky streetlights every couple of meters. Take Musashi Koyama Shopping Street Palm, for example: not only does it have a completely retractable roof, but it’s also twinned with an incredibly popular shopping arcade in Milan.

Nakano Sun Mall | Photo by Lisa Knight

Nakano Sun Mall: A Subculture Haven

The town of Nakano is a lively spot close to Shinjuku, thronging with people both during the day and at night. Known as a champion of subculture,

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Kitten travel 300 kilometers in car wheel

Young, playful and full of adventure, Xena the small but mighty warrior is one brave feline.

The kitten hitched a 300 kilometer, 3 hour ride from Woodstock, New Brunswick, all the way to Dieppe in the wheel well of a Subaru Forester.

“We had to get right up under the rear of the car and finally could see it’s little face up in there,” said Angela MacIntyre Harris, who found Xena in her car.

“I was worried it was going to be quite injured and honestly, it came out. It did take us quite a while, over 30 minutes, but it came out without a mark, it was not dirty, it was, as I said, like a miracle, quite unbelievable.”

Although the cat was uninvited and unexpected, Xena joined the Harris family on their way home from a seven day road trip.

“We had stopped in Woodstock, it was our

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Gigi Hadid Has 5 Words To Say After the Cayman Islands ‘Ganja’ Arrest

Gigi Hadid attends a British Vogue party in 2022.

Gigi Hadid attends a British Vogue party in 2022.

Gigi Hadid attends a British Vogue party in 2022.

Shortly after news broke Tuesday that Gigi Hadid had been arrested for “possession of marijuana” while visiting the Cayman Islands last week, the model decided to post an Instagram slideshow of herself and a few buds living the high life for the duration of their Caribbean vacation.

Hadid captioned a slideshow brimming with bikini pics and snaps of delicious-looking food with five words that implied the arrest was anything but a buzzkill.

“All’s well that ends well🌅,” she wrote.

A customs screen discovered “marijuana and utensils used for the consumption of marijuana” in Hadid’s luggage shortly after she landed by private aircraft at Owen Roberts International Airport in the Caymans on July 10, according to local news site Cayman Marl Road. The outlet reported that Hadid’s stash was “relatively small” and “seemingly

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WestJet CEO blames air traffic control for own airline’s flight delay

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech argued this week that air traffic controllers were to blame for a 2.5-hour flight delay on his own airline.

Von Hoensbroech tweeted on Thursday that his flight to Vancouver had been delayed due to staffing issues at NAV Canada, the corporation behind Canada’s air traffic controllers.

“Frustrating!” von Hoensbroech wrote in the tweet. “We would have been perfectly on time, now many guests will miss their connections. Shows again why we need a proper shared accountability system across the entire sector!”

In a statement to BNN Bloomberg, a spokesperson for NAV

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3 Japanese Artists Who Started With Vocaloid Music

There’s no single way to break into the Japanese pop music scene. Many popular J-pop artists actually started their careers on Niconico, a Japanese video distribution service similar to YouTube. Many J-pop artists began by uploading their own covers of Vocaloid songs or produced and sang Vocaloid songs themselves. These singers are called utaite (people who cover previously released songs on video sharing sites) and Vocaloid producers, or “VocalP” in Japanese. Most utaite and Vocaloid producers do not reveal their faces online and utilize aliases to remain anonymous, some even choosing to stay anonymous after their major debut.

Since many of these Vocaloid musicians are breaking into and making it big in the Japanese music industry, we’ve rounded up a few Japanese artists who started with Vocaloid music.

1.
Ayase from Yoasobi

Yoasobi is a band that creates music from novels and consists of the composer Ayase and Ikura on

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Europe Travel Chaos Expected As Air Traffic Controllers Vote To Strike

It’s expected that almost one third of all flights will be disrupted across Europe this summer after air traffic controllers announced they would strike. The controllers are based on EuroControl, the European air traffic management body that regulates EU airspace for both military and commercial flights.

The news comes at a time when the travel industry was hoping it would be able to deal with the expected huge crowds with the least amount of disruption, after seasonal strikes were averted at Heathrow, one of Europe’s largest airports, and the recent protests against pensions reforms diminished across France.

An industry insider told The Telegraph that up to 12,600 flights could be delayed or canceled each day. Controllers are protesting against out-of-date equipment, staff shortages and what they feel is non-strategic

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You’ll soon be able to use your phone on EU flights. But passengers aren’t sure that’s a good thing

A new poll has revealed that passengers are split on new inflight phone rules.

Passengers on flights within the European Union (EU) will soon be allowed to use mobile phones without enabling airplane mode.

The new rules – outlined by the European Commission last year – will mean travelers can make phone calls, text and stream videos. But not everyone’s happy.

According to new research by Kayak, one-in-five passengers oppose the change.

21 per cent of British respondents are against the ruling, while 40 per cent welcome it but think there should be a limit on usage with a “quiet hours” time on flights.

“A flight can often be seen as dead time… but for some, it’s part of the experience of going on holiday, relaxing and switching off from the world, having a snooze or watching an in-flight movie, which could be interrupted by others using 5G,” said Evan

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Tracing the Origins of Japanese Comics With Toba Sojo

Osamu Tezuka, author of such culture-defining works as Black Jack, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, has more than earned his title of “Father of Manga.” But what about the medium’s grandfather and other ancestors? Well, the term “manga,” which loosely translates to “whimsical pictures,” was popularized by Hokusai Manga, a collection of sketches by Katsushika Hokusai, one of the greatest artists in Japanese history.

The comic book format of paintings accompanied by text to tell a coherent story had been pioneered earlier by mid-18th century kibyoshi (“yellow covers”) likes Edo Umare Uwaki no Kabayaki by Saint Kyoden. But go back further in time and you eventually come across Japan’s potentially-first manga and, following that, the person who started it all, right? Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated.

Panels from the first scroll of Choju-jinbutsu-gigaa monkey thief runs from animals with long sticks.

The Bishop of Toba

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The Music and Community of Sado Island’s Earth Celebration Festival

Sado Island’s Earth Celebration, one of Japan’s most anticipated music festivals, welcomes musicians, artists and spectators from around Japan and the world every August. In 2019, the event brought around 35,000 attendees to the island.

This year will mark the festival’s 36th anniversary, and festivalgoers will be spoiled for choice with a myriad of activities and performances planned to take place from August 18 to 20, 2023.

Photo by Kota Yoshida

The Beat of Sado Island

While Earth Celebration is a music festival at its core, the event also features outdoor activities, markets and cultural events inspired by Sado Island. The Kodo Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble and Sado city hosted the event, which started as an initiative to showcase and share the unique local culture of this region of Niigata Prefecture. In the fall 1983 edition of “Kodo,” the taiko group’s newsletter, founding member and spiritual pillar Toshio Kawauchi discussed

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