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July 13, 2025
 

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Joji Sakurai
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
May 28, 2023
Deep in the weeds: Why Nora-Kura's wines grow as wild as can be
The untrained eye may find Ken and Kazuko Sasaki's vineyard unkempt, but appearances can be deceiving at this Hakodate winery.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Jan 29, 2023
The ‘bugs, microbes and wild yeast’ of Japan’s umami wine master
Takahiko Soga embraces the potentially destructive elements of winemaking that many other vintners try their best to avoid.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Oct 9, 2022
The 'invisible' American bringing Old World soul to Japanese wine
Bruce Gutlove was growing tired of Napa Valley when Japanese wine came calling.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Aug 7, 2022
A new wine legend sprouts from the land of the gods
Chief vintner Norio Abe wasn't interested in wine — until an order he couldn't refuse and a few years in the fields convinced him he had much more than a spark of talent.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Jun 5, 2022
Against the elements, Kyushu wine beats the heat
Terroir has never been this balmy before, but that hasn't stopped the awards from finding this Kyushu winemaker.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Apr 2, 2022
Minakata Jozo: Seeding renewal in rural Japan
Nobuari Soga 'started farming to be close to nature's blessings.' He soon discovered he could also express himself through the art of winemaking and was hooked.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Feb 19, 2022
Snow country wine: Old vines and new vision
A senior vintner stakes his future on uprooting the past, while his daughter embraces the past to forge an exciting future.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Jan 23, 2022
Funky Chateau: Straight from the gospel of natural winemaking
Toyohiko and Michiko Kanehashi were told their vines would die if they didn't fertilize. On the contrary, going natural sets Funky Chateau wines apart from the pack.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Dec 12, 2021
Azucca e Azucco: Expressing local terroir in the shadow of an automotive giant
Vintner Daisuke Suzaki says he didn't see the point of hunting for the ideal terrain to start his winery. Instead, he welcomed the challenge of starting one on his home turf.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Nov 6, 2021
On the slopes of Yamanashi, Domaine Mie Ikeno puts nature in a bottle
The first woman to establish a domaine in Japan, vintner Mie Ikeno cut her teeth in France before returning to carve out her own niche (and producing some highly sought-after wines).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / New Wine Frontier
Oct 10, 2021
Japan’s newest generation of vintners are launching a wine revolution
Forget its reputation for cloying sweetness. A group of pioneers on a quest for perfection are putting Japanese wines on the global map.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Dec 16, 2017
Solitary mosaic artist Takako Hirai chips away at expression
In a cramped studio in Ravenna, Italy, Takako Hirai runs her finger along the cracks in a mosaic artwork depicting dappled light in a park. The spaces between the tiles, she explains, determine the flow and movement of a mosaic, even more than the arrangement of the pieces themselves — as if meaning...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Sep 9, 2017
Kano Ozawa breathes fresh air into opera direction in Turin
In the Roman amphitheater of Verona, Italy, the elephants and horses in ancient Egyptian regalia marched onto stage to the thunderous chords of Guiseppe Verdi's opera "Aida." The singers filled the balmy night with their voices, soaring over the trumpets and crashing cymbals of the orchestra — and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jul 22, 2017
Yasuhiko Tsuchida: Bringing a hint of Japan to Venetian glass art
On a sweltering summer day in Venice, the temperature in Yasuhiko Tsuchida's glass-making atelier feels at least 10 degrees hotter than it is outside. Men roast their faces against groaning furnaces, shirts drenched with sweat, pulling clumps of luminous molten glass from the fire as the glass artist...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jun 24, 2017
Nobuko Kiyomiya: Judging a bookbinder in France by her covers
Kiyomiya is keeping alive a way of thinking about books that may be finding itself under threat in our world of Kindles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 20, 2017
Shoemaker Hidetaka Fukaya models creations on feline elegance
A renowned craftsman in Florence is working hard to maintain his freedom of expression as a shoemaker.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 1, 2017
Etsuro Sotoo: Master sculptor in Spain found calling in a pile of rocks
Etsuro Sotoo cuts a distinguished figure on the Barcelona culture scene. As the Sagrada Familia's only official sculptor, he exudes old-world style in his felt fedora, flowing scarf and manicured goatee.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 24, 2016
Japan's first Christmas
In a letter home to Portuguese brethren, Jesuit missionary Pedro de Alcacova writes of singing a Mass to Japanese believers in 1552: "Our voices weren't good," he recalls, "still the Christian believers rejoiced."
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2011
Season of special poignancy
The cherry trees will soon blossom in Japan.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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