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August 12, 2026
 

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ALCOHOL

At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 9, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
It might sound like pseudoscience, but there could be more to the idea of brewing with music than meets the ear.
A poster encouraging people to abstain from alcohol for three months at the start of Buddhist Lent at Wat Nong Song Hong temple in Samut Sakhon province on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 3, 2026
Millions of Thais banish the booze for Buddhist Lent
Avoiding drugs and alcohol is a key precept of Buddhism, but Thailand, where more than 90% of people are Buddhist, has Asia¡¯s third highest per capita consumption of alcohol.
Japan's cocktail scene underperformed at the Asia's 50 Best Bars awards, announced Tuesday from Macau.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 29, 2026
Japan shut out of Asia¡¯s 50 Best Bars top 10 for first time
Â鶹´«Ã½ reduced showing reflects Asia¡¯s rapidly expanding cocktail scene, as standout bars emerge well beyond the region¡¯s traditional hubs.
Toru Miyanaga, Suntory chief strategy officer, notes that the demand for self-care products will likely grow.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 7, 2026
Suntory sees opportunity in the OTC medicine business
The drinks maker is acquiring Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare and already has a health foods subsidiary.
Sapporo Breweries President Hiroshi Tokimatsu speaks at a news conference on the company's capital and business alliance with Carlsberg Breweries, in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 7, 2026
Sapporo Breweries to tie up with Denmark¡¯s Carlsberg
Through a joint venture in Singapore with the Danish beer maker, the Japanese brewer aims to boost its beer sales in fast-growing Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
Sumadori Meets, a bar specializing in nonalcoholic beverages, in Tokyo's busy Omotesando district
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Japanese brewers expand zero-proof and low-alcohol lineups
The companies believe that many young consumers still want to enjoy the lively atmosphere of drinking parties while avoiding or limiting alcohol consumption.
Opened in March, Bar Trench Kyoto is the first Kansai outpost of the Ebisu cocktail institution.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 14, 2026
A Tokyo cocktail institution sets its sights on Kyoto
Opened in March, Bar Trench Kyoto is the first non-Tokyo outpost of the Ebisu cocktail institution.
Tomomi Duquette is the owner of Snow Satoyama Sake, one of just three breweries that have opened in Niigata Prefecture since 1953.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 14, 2026
Newcomer to hallowed Niigata sake scene is already winning awards
Sake evangelist Tomomi Duquette is breathing new life into the heartland of sake brewing.
A single bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old (right) has set a new high-water mark in the secondary market for Japanese whisky.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 2, 2026
Rare Yamazaki whisky sells for record $1 million
Bottled exclusively for a club in Nagoya and autographed by Suntory¡¯s chief blender, the 50-year-old Japanese whisky sold for almost twice its estimate.
Assemblage, a blending technique foundational to Champagne, is almost never used in sake but serves as the core of Heavensake.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 31, 2026
The Frenchmen who gave sake a Champagne soul
Carl Hirschmann and former Champagne cellar master Regis Camus lean on techniques from the wine world to produce a sake that has a foot in both Europe and Japan.
Japan Airlines has banned its cabin attendants from drinking alcohol during their stay before return flights.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2026
JAL bans cabin attendants from drinking before return flights
JAL announced that a flight scheduled to depart from Hiroshima was delayed by about 40 minutes, affecting 186 passengers, after a female cabin attendant drank more than allowed.
Jack Daniel¡¯s Whiskey at the Brown-Forman Corp. distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2026
Why these are sobering times for alcohol companies
For years, the industry relied on drinking remaining deeply woven into social life and consumer culture, but health concerns and tighter budgets are prompting people to drink less.
A vehicle modified to look like an unmarked police car before being driven by a man suspected of drunken driving is seized by Tokyo police on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2026
Saitama man arrested over alleged drunken driving of fake police car
Ren Nakamura, 23, is suspected of driving the vehicle, which had been modified to look like an unmarked police car, and crashing it into a utility pole.
Unable to find much information on Japanese wine tourism in English, Nick Rowan decided to put together a guide to the country's wine regions.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 6, 2026
Charting Â鶹´«Ã½ emerging wine scene
Nick Rowan has produced a comprehensive guide to Â鶹´«Ã½ wine regions and producers as global interest continues to grow.
The recently concluded Sake Park invited younger brewers to make sake more approachable for attendees in their 20s and 30s.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 10, 2026
Tokyo¡¯s sake calendar is filled to the brim
Large-scale sake festivals are taking over the city next weekend. We find out why and help you decide which one to attend.
Kiyoshi Gonda (left), sixth-generation sakemaker of Gonda Shuzo in Saitama Prefecture, wants to make his sake from as many local ingredients as possible.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2026
A Saitama sake brewery embraces a little-known rice variety
Gonda Shuzo in Kumagaya is banking on Sake Musashi, a local cultivar, to define the terroir of the region¡¯s sake.
Anzu Kojima (right) and Francois Proust of Three Grapes wine bar want guests to keep an open mind when they try Japanese wines.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 25, 2026
¡®For Japanese wine, you must forget everything you know about wine¡¯
Leave your preconceived notions of vino at the door of Three Grapes, a new bar offering in-depth, guided tastings of domestic wine.
At Ume Domaine Arimoto farm in Wakayama Prefecture, Suiko, a rarer cultivar of plum, is prized for its pear-like aroma, which gives "umeshu" (plum liqueur) an elegant character.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 13, 2026
Japanese plum liqueur soaks up a new identity
Long viewed as just a sweet sip, ¡°umeshu¡± is now getting the spotlight, thanks to a growing breed of producers who are showcasing the exciting possibilities of the beverage.
Asahi Breweries President Kazuo Matsuyama (left) hands out free beer at a supermarket in Mitaka, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2026
Asahi Breweries to fully resume shipments in April after cyberattack
In the alcoholic drink segment, shipments have been resumed for ¡°almost all products,¡± an official of the parent, Asahi Group Holdings, said.
A bottle of Bowmore at a shop near Lausanne, Switzerland. Suntory acquired Bowmore in 1994.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2026
Suntory consolidates two scotch distilleries in Scotland as U.S. sales fall
The majority of revenue from scotch whisky comes from exports, which fell to the U.S. ¡ª one of the largest markets for the drink ¡ª following tariffs being introduced in April 2025.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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