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October 08, 2025
 

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ALCOHOL

An Asahi brewery in Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 6, 2025
Asahi resumes beer supplies in Japan after crippling cyberattack
Some parts of the system are still shut and the company is processing orders manually to prioritize its supply framework.
Drinks produced by Asahi at a liquor store in Tokyo. Retailers in Japan are warning customers of possible Asahi Super Dry beer shortages after a cyberattack paralyzed production and distribution at the major brewer.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2025
Asahi ships beer using paper and fax after ransomware attack
Asahi said it had identified evidence indicating a potential information leak, but was still verifying its nature and scope.
Intrigued by Japanese wines, Burgundy winemaker Etienne de Montille decided to explore Hokkaido's wine scene, eventually setting up his outpost in Hakodate in 2017.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 3, 2025
Japan’s first foreign wine investor plants its roots in Hokkaido
Burgundy’s Domaine de Montille has opened a winery in Hakodate — a vote of confidence in the region’s terroir.
Costumed revelers stand next to police officers controlling crowds at the scramble crossing in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Oct. 31, 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2025
Tokyo's Shibuya calls on foreign visitors not to have a ‘disruptive Halloween’
The ward, a hot spot for Halloween revelers, is taking a step back from its “don’t come” messaging of the recent past.
Asahi's troubles carry outsized weight given Super Dry’s dominant market share and the cutthroat competition among Japan’s major brewers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2025
Asahi blames ransomware for crippling Japanese beer plants
The maker of Japan’s most popular beer warned that the perpetrators may have made off with data, though it’s investigating the extent of the infiltration.
Product shipments at Asahi Group Holdings companies have been suspended due to a system failure caused by a cyberattack, with the holding company saying they have no estimated timeline for recovery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2025
Asahi suspends orders and shipments following cyberattack
The beverage company is working to restore its operations and has confirmed there has not been any leak of personal information or customer data.
A wide range of products will see higher prices due to rising material and labor costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2025
Prices to rise for 3,024 food products in Japan in October
The figure is up 3.4% from a year earlier, marking the 10th consecutive month of increase.
A new draft proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2025
Justice Ministry proposes criteria for dangerous driving offenses
The proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
Maaya Takaoka serves sake at a restaurant in Mumbai earlier this month.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2025
Japanese woman strives to promote sake in India
Maaya Takaoka moved to India this year, attracted by the country's vibrant culture and its large, untapped market.
Bartender and raconteur Shingo Gokan wants his new Tokyo bar, Sangai, to tell the story of Japan's terroir.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Sep 23, 2025
With new Tokyo bar, Shingo Gokan's bartending journey comes full circle
After a nomadic career, a charismatic bartender now finds home to be a vibrant source of tippling inspiration.
A man was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison for driving in the wrong direction under the influence of alcohol, which led to a fatal collision with another vehicle.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2025
Man gets nine years after fatal drunken driving crash in Saitama
In the lay judge trial, Saitama District Court ruled the 19-year-old defendant guilty of dangerous driving resulting in death.
Japan Airlines Managing Executive Officer Yukio Nakagawa (center) and others apologize after one of the airline's pilots was found to have been drinking alcohol, during a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 4.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2025
JAL to punish president and 36 others over pilot drinking scandal
A JAL pilot consumed alcohol the day before work, resulting in delays of up to 18½ hours for three flights.
Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Sep 15, 2025
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
Young Japanese are saying no to booze — and yes to mocktails, gaming and sober nights out. Breweries are pivoting to meet them.
Sensing a bleak future for the local "awamori" liquor, Mizuho Distillery ventured into rum production, releasing a collection of eight rums made from "kokutō" (partially refined or unrefined sugar) sourced from various islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 12, 2025
The sweet rise of Okinawan rum
The spirit is emerging out of the shadow of the local “awamori” liquor, thanks to a growing band of producers who are keen to tell the tale of the islands' traditional agriculture.
Japan Airlines President Mitsuko Tottori (right) bows in apology Wednesday in Tokyo over the company's pilots causing flight delays due to drinking alcohol.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025
JAL reprimand over drunken pilots adds to airline’s woes
The transport ministry issued a fresh warning to the airline for insufficient oversight involving a series of heavy pre-flight drinking cases.
Haruhiko Oyama, a descendant of the Yamatohana Jozo brewery's founder, talks about the family business at the brewer’s original site, which is now used as a restaurant and rental venue.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Sep 8, 2025
Sake brewing in Hiroshima felt the pinch of wartime economic controls
During World War II, the government pushed breweries into mergers or closures to redirect resources toward munitions.
The transport ministry in late December issued a business improvement notice to Japan Airlines after various in-flight incidents in 2024, including a pilot’s excessive consumption of alcohol.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025
Japan Airlines apologizes after another pilot drinking report
"We sincerely apologize to our customers and all parties involved for the inconvenience and trouble caused,” the company said.
Shinji Mizutani opened Tanikoretani in August 2024, after converting a dilapidated shophouse in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa into a retro-look "izakaya" tavern.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 24, 2025
Behind Tanikoretani’s quiet facade, a lively world of sake-fueled food
A chance encounter with a two-story rental space led Shinji Mizutani to set up a vibrant tavern in Tokyo’s Kiyosumi-Shirakawa neighborhood.
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 22, 2025
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Yellowish and high in acidity, German sake won't please the purists, but open-minded consumers, especially wine drinkers, may find something appealing.
East Japan Railway said Thursday that it will cancel one trip of a luxury overnight sleeper service, which was originally scheduled to depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo on Aug. 30, after crew members were found to have been drinking alcohol on duty.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2025
JR East cancels luxury train run over crew's boozing
The train, called Train Suite Shiki-shima, was originally scheduled to depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo on Aug. 30, heading for the prefectures of Niigata and Nagano.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
Spanish tourist injured in latest bear attack
Shirakawago, a U.N. World Heritage site in Gifu Prefecture
Americans and Canadians unite in battling 'eating machine' carp
A Fisheries and Oceans Canada team patrols the Grand River in Dunnville, Ontario, in search of invasive grass carp specimens on Sept. 25.
Trump hails 'wisdom and strength' of Japan's incoming prime minister
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, gives a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
Takaichi, the LDP’s first female president, is far from an ‘overnight success’
Newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party chief Sanae Takaichi greets her fellow LDP members on Saturday at party headquarters.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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