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June 30, 2026
 

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Weiwen Lin
A new global ranking puts Osaka Itami Airport as not only best in Japan but Asia's top travel hub in terms of punctuality, passenger experience and facilities.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 19, 2026
Osaka Itami Airport named Asia’s best in new travel rankings
Fukuoka Airport and Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport rounded out Japan’s top three airports graded on punctuality, passenger experience and facilities.
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.
With six three-starred restaurants in this year's Michelin guide, Kyoto continues to build on its reputation as a gourmet destination.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 28, 2026
Gourmet capital Kyoto now has six three-Michelin-starred restaurants
The latest edition of the Michelin Guide Kyoto & Osaka sees Miyamaso earn three stars — the first time since 2020 that Kyoto has a new three-starred entry.
At Park Hyatt Tokyo's revamped Girandole, chef Kojiro Tsutsumi (left) is tasked with executing Alain Ducasse's vision of a French brasserie.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 24, 2026
Girandole by Alain Ducasse is a stunning ode to brasserie fare
The renowned French chef and restaurateur’s latest venture in Tokyo hits all the right notes, thanks to the deft skills of chef de cuisine Kojiro Tsutsumi.
This year's Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list spans 17 cities across Asia, with Penang, Ubud and Kasauli appearing among the entries for the first time.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 26, 2026
Tokyo earns seven spots on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list
Sazenka and Maz climb ranks, but Osaka’s La Cime stole the show as Japan’s highest-ranked restaurant.
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.
Expect beautiful latte art, such as this bonsai drawn by barista Pietro Vannelli, at Vannelli Coffee.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 3, 2026
From Italy to Japan: Vannelli Coffee opens in Tokyo
With fancy gadgets and fragrant brews, the Italian specialty coffee brand brings some pizzazz to an already sophisticated java scene in the Japanese capital.
At Peter, The Peninsula Tokyo's revamped flagship restaurant, chef Yohan Da Costa balances French and Japanese elements in his modern French cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 15, 2026
How Yohan Da Costa is redefining Peter at The Peninsula Tokyo
After 12 years, The Peninsula Tokyo’s flagship restaurant has swapped its steak-and-grill theme for a French concept led by up-and-coming chef Yohan Da Costa.
Bacha Coffee's outlet in Tokyo is the Singapore-based upscale coffee chain's first shop in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2026
With a dose of old-world charm, Bacha Coffee brews its way to Tokyo
The boutique coffee chain’s first outlet in Japan offers all the trademarks of the brand: fragrant javas, stylish interiors and delicious croissants.
Driftwood Bar & Grill, part of Fairmont Tokyo's trio of bars on its 43rd floor, offers creative cocktails and panoramic views of Tokyo's Minato Ward.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 13, 2026
At Driftwood, cocktails flow to the sounds of city pop
Fairmont Tokyo’s new bar concept is an open space of three sky-high bars, including a classy area serving cross-cultural sips and a listening bar playing retro hits.
Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
CULTURE / Film / Longform
Nov 22, 2025
Eat, slurp, love: ‘Tampopo’ turns 40
Four decades on, Juzo Itami’s film remains unsurpassed as a wicked and delicious social commentary on Japanese society told through the lens of food.
Tatsuya Nakadai
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 11, 2025
Renowned Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai dies at 92
The actor was best known for his role as an aging warlord in Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran.”
The Onodera Food Service group, which manages Sushi Ginza Onodera and "kaiseki" specialist Nadaman, has merged a sushi "omakase" (chef's choice) into a kaiseki to create a new dining experience.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 7, 2025
At Nadaman, a traditional Japanese multicourse meal gets a new format
The Onodera group has taken a bold step in merging two of its dining concepts — sushi and “kaiseki” haute cuisine.
Great Wines World features more than 260 top-rated wines curated by influential American wine critic James Suckling.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 31, 2025
Renowned wine critic James Suckling brings Great Wines World back to Tokyo
The event showcases more than 260 top-rated bottles from 150 producers, with a focus on Bordeaux.
This year’s World's 50 Best Bars list features bars from 29 cities worldwide, including debuts from Eastern Europe.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 10, 2025
Tokyo earns three spots on World’s 50 Best Bars list
Bar Benfiddich climbs ranks, but Hong Kong steals the show with Bar Leone making history as the first bar in Asia to be named No. 1 in the listing.
Avant-garde chef Grant Achatz and his team from Alinea are in Tokyo for a three-week residency.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 4, 2025
Eat your balloons: The culinary theater of Grant Achatz comes to Tokyo
The man behind Chicago’s iconic Alinea restaurant shares insights on modernist cuisine and his Tokyo pop-up.
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.
Tokyo's current crop of three-Michelin-starred establishments includes six Japanese restaurants, five specializing in French cuisine and one that does Chinese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 27, 2025
Tokyo retains Michelin crown with 160 starred restaurants for 2026
This year’s figure, though 10 fewer than the year prior, does little to dent the capital’s reputation as a leading gourmet destination.
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.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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

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