Tag - food

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

FOOD

Shoichi Kojima holding a cheesecake made with funazushi on May 6 in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture
JAPAN
May 13, 2025
Shiga chef turns stinky sushi into cheesecake
Girasole, a restaurant in the city of Hikone, has been serving the funazushi-derived Basque-style cheesecake since April 2021.
A customer walks past a display of rice, with a sign apologizing to shoppers they must be limited to one bag each due to market conditions, at a branch of Japanese discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on April 21.
JAPAN
May 10, 2025
As prices soar, Zen-Noh ships just 32% of government-stockpiled rice
The group is currently shipping between 2,000 and 3,000 tons of rice per day, and is working to send out deliveries as quickly as possible, a Zen-Noh official said.
The government began releasing stockpiled rice in March, but this has failed to stem increases in rice prices.
JAPAN
May 8, 2025
Price of rice at Japanese retailers hits record for 17th consecutive week
The average price for 5 kilograms of rice rose to ¥4,233 from ¥4,220 the previous week — more than double the level seen a year earlier.
Imba, a clove farmer who inherited 70 trees from her parents, in Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia. Colonial powers once warred over the cloves grown on the eastern Indonesian island of Ternate. Today, farmers say the crop's gravest threat is climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 6, 2025
Climate change takes spice from Indonesia clove farms
Clove trees can take more than a decade to mature, and flowers can only be harvested in a small window that depends heavily on weather conditions.
Asuka Tsuzuki (left), the principal of Linden Hall School's secondary school, and Kota Sugimoto, the school's head chef, display the Japanese Agricultural Standards certificate the school obtained for its lunches.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 5, 2025
In a national first, Fukuoka school obtains organic lunch certificate
A Fukuoka school has become Japan’s first to earn JAS certification for organic school lunches, using seasonal and local produce to promote environmental education.
Amid shortages, the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice during the week of April 14 was ¥4,220.
JAPAN
May 4, 2025
Why are rice prices still high in Japan?
The average price of 5 kilograms of rice in mid-April was ¥4,220 — more than double what it cost around the same time last year.
Although it has been more than a month since the government began releasing its stockpiled rice, retail prices have remained high due to sluggish distribution.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025
Only 1.4% of government-stockpiled rice is reaching retailers in Japan
Wholesalers have not been able to handle the sudden increase in distribution volume.
The prices of 478 products, including House Foods' curry mixes, will be raised in May.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2025
Price hikes set for 478 food products in May
The monthly number of food products with higher prices will rise 1.9% from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive monthly increase.
It has been over a month since the government began releasing its stockpiled rice, but retail prices have remained high.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Government-stockpiled rice sold ¥420 cheaper in third auction
Although it has been more than a month since the government began releasing its stockpiled rice, retail prices have remained high.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks
The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticisms about Japan’s tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week’s bilateral negotiations.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in Tokyo gained 3.4% in April from a year earlier, as a mixture of impacts from last year’s school fee cuts and higher food and energy costs accelerated inflation, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Tokyo prices rise most in two years, backing central bank’s hike path
Consumer prices excluding fresh food gained 3.4% in April from a year earlier. Tokyo’s figures are a leading indicator for national price gains.
Cultured meat over 1 centimeter thick developed using a new method incorporating hollow fibers into the cell culture process
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2025
New method developed to make cultured meat thicker
By incorporating hollow fibers into the cell culture process, the team succeeded in creating meat that was about 1 centimeter thick and weighed about 11 grams.
Bags of rice at a warehouse in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Japan imported South Korean rice for the first time since 1999 this month amid soaring domestic prices for the staple grain.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 21, 2025
Japan buys first South Korean rice in over two decades as prices surge
The Japan office of South Korea’s National Agricultural Cooperative Federation said it brought in and sold 2 tons of Korean rice this month.
A historic surge in rice prices in Japan is prompting retailers to turn to cheaper ingredients like barley and noodles in bento meal boxes to keep costs down and hold on to customers.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2025
Japanese retailers trying to overcome soaring rice prices
Some retailers are expanding the sale of lower-priced foreign rice.
Bottles of Hakkaisan-brand sake for export
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2025
U.S. tariffs overshadow Japan’s agriculture and food exports
Japanese goods need to be sold by “emphasizing that there are no alternatives” to them, said Kazuhito Yamashita, senior researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Strategies.
Government-stockpiled rice stacked in a warehouse in Feb. 18 in Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2025
Japan to hold third auction of stockpiled rice next week
In total, 100,000 tons of reserved 2023 rice will be auctioned.
Recently, private companies have sharply increased rice imports while paying high tariffs, against the backdrop of shortages of rice as a staple food.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2025
Finance Ministry calls for increasing tariff-free rice imports
Recently, private companies have sharply increased rice imports while paying high tariffs, against the backdrop of shortages of rice as a staple food.
Farm minister Taku Eto (second from right) meets with rice wholesalers and retailers on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2025
Rice wholesalers and retailers call for better stockpile distribution
The average price of rice sold at supermarkets across the country in the week through April 6 rose for the 14th straight week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gives instructions to Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa (third from left) and others at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2025
Japan braces for talks on yen and BOJ in trade negotiations with U.S.
Ryosei Akazawa, who is heading the task force, is reportedly set to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent next week.
A device developed by Fujitsu and others that uses artificial intelligence technology to judge the fat content of frozen albacore tuna, on Wednesday in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2025
Fujitsu and others use AI to evaluate tuna’s fattiness
The device is expected to help expand the distribution of albacore tuna that can be eaten raw.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER