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Aya Takada
For Aya Takada's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2021
Japan’s historic power market rally triggers government probe
Most households and businesses won't be affected by the volatility, as nearly all power supply contracts are linked to rates independent from the spot market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2020
Japan net zero plan hits speed bump as small utilities balk
Hokkaido Electric Power Co. and Shikoku Electric Power Co. said this week they can't set deadlines to become emissions neutral because it's too costly.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2020
Japan’s offshore wind backers see clean heir to coal and nuclear
Offshore wind could help replace facilities built during Japan's economic boom from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2020
Tepco plans ¥2 trillion green power push by 2030
The spending plans are among the most ambitious from Japanese utilities, which lag global peers in shifting away from fossil fuels.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2020
Nine years after Fukushima, Japan can't quit its coal habit
A return to coal has left Japan with long-term climate goals that are unambitious — and increasingly, the subject of international censure.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2018
Japan may be in hot pursuit of robotics, but on the farm it's still all about human hands
The country that brought robots to car factories looks set to stay resolutely old-school in agriculture as it seeks to attract more foreign workers to replenish an aging workforce.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2018
Your wagyu beef may be getting even pricier
The world's most pampered cows are finding that a key supplement in their carefully designed diet is getting harder to come by thanks to thousands of pigs falling sick in China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 1, 2018
As high-rise farms go global, Japan's Spread leads the way
In the hills between Kyoto, Osaka and Nara prefectures, surrounded by technology companies and startups, Spread Co. is preparing to open the world's largest automated leaf-vegetable factory.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2018
Mercian, Japan's oldest winemaker, readies for onslaught of European grapes following trade deal
With the removal of tariffs on European wines as soon as next year, Mercian Corp. is betting on Japanese grapes to weather the onslaught.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2018
Japan's largest sake exporter eyes even larger slice of international market
The new boss of Takara Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest sake-supplier to overseas markets, wants to make the rice-based alcohol as popular as wine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2018
Climate change threat sends Japan's Key Coffee on bean hunt
Coffee lovers beware: Climate change is threatening supplies of high-quality beans, with one coffee house hunting for the perfect bean to withstand warmer conditions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2018
Japanese scientists look to help palm oil industry tap green energy demand
Japanese scientists are encouraging Southeast Asia's palm oil producers to chop down trees to help save forests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2017
End of 47-year Japan rice program signals boost for ramen wheat
The end of Japan's four decades of rice-market control could be good news for noodle lovers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2017
Internet bad boy Takafumi Horie and Wagyumafia bet the farm on intensely marbled steaks
Corporate enfant terrible, Takafumi Horie, built one of Japan's most successful internet businesses, stood for the Diet, went to prison and started a space company that aims to put the country's first privately funded rocket into orbit. Now he has a new frontier: cattle.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2017
Meiji to boost premium chocolate output as sales beat target
Meiji Holdings Co., Japan's biggest chocolate maker, will buy more cocoa beans from Latin America to increase output of premium products after selling twice as much of its upscale THE Chocolate brand as it initially expected.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2017
Sake makers tout locally sourced rice to entice terroir-obsessed wine enthusiasts
Brewery executive Kosuke Kuji brought his best sake to a New York booze showcase 16 years ago hoping to promote high-end sake to a new generation of sophisticated foreign drinkers. They were a little disappointed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 3, 2017
Chilean wine a hit among Japan's working women
Japan's swelling ranks of working women have grape growers 10,000 miles away cheering.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 30, 2017
Olympic stadium architect sees wood as way to change Tokyo's concrete legacy
Look around Tokyo and you can still see the concrete legacy left by the 1964 Olympics and the subsequent economic "miracle." Wood can change that, says the architect of the main stadium for the 2020 Games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2016
Biggest robot dairy in Asia setting up Japan's milk revival
Jin Kawaguchiya gave up a career in finance to help revive Japan's ailing dairy industry, one robot at a time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 3, 2016
Why Japanese will pay a fortune for luxury chocolates
Naoko Otsuka didn't think twice about paying the equivalent of $23 for 141.7 grams of chocolate. The dark brown slivers of sweetness weren't just a treat, the Japanese homemaker says, but an opportunity to learn more about a superfood.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?