The Japan Rail Pass, available to foreign visitors only and previously available only outside of Japan from licensed sellers, can — between March 8, 2017, and March 31, 2018 — temporarily be purchased on site at many rail stations and airports in Japan. Passes can be purchased in 7-, 14- and 21-day durations for, respectively, ¥22,000 (near $193), ¥35,500 and ¥45,000. (Passes allowing access to “Green” cars cost twice as much.) They allow for...

In Barcelona, Spain, new laws affecting tourism went into effect in February 2017. New hotels are prohibited from being built near the city center, and no new licenses for short-term rentals (such as those booked through Airbnb.com) will be granted to landlords. Currently, there are about 75,000 hotel beds and 50,000 licensed short-term-rental beds available in Barcelona. The city announced in November 2016 that it was fining Airbnb more than €500,000 (near $538,000) for listing...

Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of novelist Jane Austen, special events are being held in 2017 throughout her native English county of Hampshire, such as…• On July 18, the date of her death, a special service is being held at Winchester Cathedral at 5:30 p.m. Also, beside her grave within the cathedral, the permanent exhibit “The Jane Austen Story” opened on Nov. 10, 2016.• In Austen’s native city of Southampton, the Stinking Fish of...