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April 25, 2025
 

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ALCOHOL

Despite Japan's still-nascent domestic winemaking scene, wine drinkers in the country have long enjoyed an obsession with obtaining certifications around the beverage.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 17, 2024
What’s driving Japan’s love affair with wine certifications?
Studying wine is an extremely popular pastime in Japan — despite the number of students without a professional need to do so.
Two of the country’s four major makers of alcoholic beverages are reportedly going to stop releasing new products with alcohol content of 8% or more, citing health concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024
Japan asks when a stiff drink is a bit too stiff
Two of the country’s four major makers have taken the unusual step of retreating from a lucrative and growing market: strong premixed drinks.
Asahi Group Holdings chief executive Atsushi Katsuki
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024
Asahi eyes overseas acquisitions to quadruple sales of Super Dry beer
Spurred on by the need to seek growth outside of the shrinking home market, Japanese firms went on an overseas buying spree worth ¥8.1 trillion last year.
The health ministry has adopted its first guidelines on alcohol consumption to raise awareness of its health risks.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 19, 2024
Japan draws up guidelines on alcohol consumption
The guidelines set out the amount of alcohol consumed that raises the risk of developing diseases, in a bid to encourage people to drink in moderation.
Canned ready-to-drink cocktails, including Asahi Breweries' 9% Clear Cooler Strong chūhai produced in conjunction with Seven & I Holdings, at a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2024
Asahi calls time on new strong chūhai amid low-alcohol shift in Japan
New versions of the canned fizzy cocktails with alcohol content of 8% or higher will not be launched in order to “reduce inappropriate drinking.”
Bottled and canned cocktails are predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2023
Are canned cocktails poised for a meteoric U.S. rise?
The bottled and canned cocktail market is predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
What's old in Tokyo libations is new again at Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery, where sake's cloudy, rustic predecessor takes center stage.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 24, 2023
At 2023’s close, Tokyo bars enter a new golden age
This year’s cocktail trends offer a spirit-forward reflection on the past as well as glimpses of the future.
A pint is poured inside the Grapes public house in Limehouse, south London, on Dec. 14. Pubs have served Roman soldiers, knights and poets, and have been a gathering place for communities to enjoy a brew beside a crackling fire for centuries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2023
Last orders? British pubs hit by rising costs and changing tastes
High inflation, energy bills and business rates are cutting into increasingly stretched earnings, as many find other ways to spend time and money.
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023
Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority
Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.
In Japan on a scholarship he fought hard for, Oscar Ruto found himself needing to take a break and headed into Tokyo for a weekend of partying.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2023
'I wasn't always an alcoholic … and then I was'
As the party season draws near, it's important to deal with yearend stress in healthier ways.
A bottle of Suntory Holdings' Yamazaki 25 Year Old whisky at the company's distillery in Shimamoto, Osaka Prefecture, in October
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2023
Suntory to more than double the price of some alcoholic beverages
The company said that the price increases are designed to help improve the quality of its products and enhance production facilities.
With water drawn from sources in upstate New York, new sake brewing facilities in the Empire State back by Niigata Prefecture's Hakkaisan will be producing bottles by 2024.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023
Hakkaisan and New York brewer to produce U.S.-based sake by 2024
The water for sake will come from upstate New York, while rice will come from California and Arkansas.
Nobuhiro Torii, president of Suntory Spirits, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 27.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2023
Suntory to boost output as Japanese whisky sees global boom
Suntory Spirits has begun two-year renovations at its Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture and its Hakushu distillery in Yamanashi Prefecture.
In addition to its regular whiskies, Suntory is released a limited-edition 100th Anniversary Hibiki blend retailing at $5,000 per bottle.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 5, 2023
A century of Suntory's whisky mastery costs $5,000 per bottle
Suntory's 100th anniversary blends are already selling for double their original retail prices online.
Shibuya's local government has mounted a campaign to dissuade revelers from visiting the neighborhood for Halloween celebrations and has banned drinking in the streets.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2023
Shibuya wants to cancel Halloween. That's a mistake.
This year, Shibuya isn't dressing up for Halloween. The neighborhood is turning revelers away, ignoring its role as a youth culture hub.
People visit Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Saturday, including a handful of costumed revelers gathering in the trendy area to celebrate the weekend before Halloween.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 29, 2023
Security tight for Halloween in Shibuya as costumed crowds fail to show
Measures to deter costumed revelers from gathering in the trendy area — including a ban on street drinking — appeared to be relatively effective.
Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe speaks during an interview at his office on Oct. 19.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 26, 2023
Can Shibuya's mayor turn his ward into a global icon?
For Mayor Ken Hasebe, reining in Halloween revelers is just one step on the way to transforming Shibuya.
A representative of Chevalier Brewery presents a bottle of its sake adapted to French drinkers' tastes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 15, 2023
Sake fights an uphill battle for France’s wine lovers
Among many French drinkers, sake is still associated with cheap, low-quality alcohol only served at the end of meals in Japanese restaurants.
Sake master Daisuke Suzuki (right) and a staff member sort rice at his brewery in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Sept. 1.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023
Fukushima sake brewer warms shattered fishing community
A local sake maker has returned to Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, years after disaster wiped out its brewery there.
From happōshu to real beer, Japan’s tax changes aim to improve brewing quality and prices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2023
Amid rising costs, why is Japan making beer cheaper?
A 350-milliliter can of brew costs drinkers about ¥7 (5 cents) less from October, thanks to changes in the country’s tax system.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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