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June 30, 2026
 

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ALCOHOL

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 Japan’s emerging wine scene
Nick Rowan has produced a comprehensive guide to Japan’s 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. — one of the largest markets for the drink — following tariffs being introduced in April 2025.
Rosewood Miyakojima's Choma bar is a stylish beachfront venue.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Feb 23, 2026
At Choma, drinks come with a shot of folklore
Rosewood Miyakojima’s new beachfront bar shakes up inventive cocktails inspired by the island’s myths and traditions.
A bartender prepares traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis-based cocktails in Shanghai on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 17, 2026
‘Punk wellness’: China’s stressed youth mix traditional medicine and cocktails
Bars focused on traditional Chinese medicine have popped up in several cities across the country.
A reduced sense of satisfaction after drinking could lead to excessive alcohol consumption, researchers have found.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 16, 2026
Weakened satisfaction likely to drive excessive drinking, study finds
A weakening of a mechanism that produces a sense of satisfaction after drinking could lead to excessive alcohol consumption, a team of Japanese and other researchers has found.
At Buryu Winery, owner Keiji Yamaguchi (left) and assistant winemaker Kaede Narita created a cedar-infused red wine by fermenting it in a 1,000 liter "kioke" cedar tub.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 6, 2026
Against the grain: Japanese wine aged in local barrels
A small but growing number of domestic winemakers are using vessels made from native trees such as “mizunara,” moving away from the norm of using European or American oak.
Pints of beer at the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2026
The ‘Guinness effect’: Why stout is suddenly booming
The U.K.’s biggest-selling beer, Guinness continues to grow; it’s ascended so quickly that it’s even triggered periodic shortages, forcing some pubs to ration supplies.
Asahi Breweries' sales fell by over 20% in December from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2026
Asahi Breweries’ sales fell over 20% in December, data shows, after cyberattack
Combined sales volumes of beer, happōshu quasi-beer and “third-segment” beer-like beverages at Japan’s three other major brewers rose by 2% in the month, an industry estimate says.
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.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
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.
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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