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Edish tableware is made from paper pulp and food waste, such as from mandarin oranges.

Can Japan embrace an alternative approach to plastic?

by Mara Budgen

The amount of plastic produced worldwide each year could fill every skyscraper in New York. Of the 380 million tons of plastic produced annually, only 1% is biodegradable or made from renewable natural sources rather than fossil fuels. This represents a small, but growing portion of the market. ...

After a year of anxiety, what can we expect from the Year of the Ox in 2021?

by Kathryn Wortley

Few people will have been sorry to see the end of 2020, a year characterized by the global COVID-19 pandemic. For those who follow the Chinese new year, the close of the tragic and tumultuous Year of the Rat is fast approaching, too. Feb. 12 marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox. The secon...

Remnants: Shoes for a man, a woman and a child left in the Aokigahara Jukai forest on the flank of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture. The name in part translates as "Sea of Trees," though with good reason it is often referred to as "Suicide Forest."

Inside Aokigahara, Japan’s ‘Suicide Forest’

by Rob Gilhooly

I am walking through Aokigahara Jukai forest, the light rapidly fading on a mid-winter afternoon, when I am stopped dead in my tracks by a blood-curdling scream. The natural reaction would be to run, but the forest floor is a maze of roots and slippery rocks and, truth be told, I am lost in this ...

Prep time: Craig White pivoted from running a restaurant to running his own barbecue factory after a chance conversation with a customer.

White Smoke: Upping the game for Japanese barbecue

by Jeremy Wilgus

In a country that doesn’t make it easy for non-Japanese entrepreneurs, sometimes the options for Japan’s foreign residents can seem limited. Opening your own business is rarely as straightforward as you might hope, and finding a foothold in a notoriously insular marketplace can be almost impossib...

Hefty portion: The popular full- or half-rack spare ribs come with hot sauce and pickles on the side and go well with beer.

Freeman Shokudo: Backyard barbecue defies convention

by Robbie Swinnerton

Barbecue, bar-b-que, BBQ. Whatever way the sign over the door is spelled, it’s a subject that can generate almost as much heat as the cooking process itself. There are few meat eaters who don’t have strong opinions and preferences, but one thing is undisputed: When barbecue is done well, it taste...