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July 03, 2026
 

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WINE

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.
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.
Shubun Endo, president of Tomioka Winery in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, in February
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2026
15 years since disaster, Fukushima winery becomes community hub
This spring, Tomioka Winery will sell the first wine made in the town.
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.
Fuel price pressures are hitting growers and winemakers at the same time as tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2026
From Indian movies to Italian wine, Trump’s war on Iran to cause pain worldwide
Effects of the conflict are reaching industries that might’ve seemed insulated from the fallout, and that’s unlikely to be reversed quickly.
Half-siblings Issei Tomine and Camille Leger (Tomohisa Yamashita and Fleur Geffrier) come to terms with their father’s death in the second season of “Drops of God.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 18, 2026
‘Drops of God’ decants a quiet, perfect ending
After all the rivalry, wine quests and family wounds, the Apple TV show’s second season ends on a note of perfect balance — like a great vintage.
In the first season of “Drops of God,” Camille and Issei competed to inherit the wine legacy of Alexandre Leger.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 13, 2026
Season Two of ‘Drops of God’ serves a dark swirl of sibling drama
In its second season, “Drops of God” shows that characters don’t need to be likable to be compelling.
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.
Takashi Murakami's collaboration with champagne maker Dom Perignon marks the artist's first-ever foray into wine label design.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 27, 2025
A Champagne with notes of peach, citrus and Takashi Murakami’s flowers
The Japanese artist has lent his floral motif to two limited-edition bottles of Dom Perignon — just the kind of hip bubblies you’ll want to pop at the year-end party.
Moriumius Marine & Food, in the Ogatsucho district in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, on Oct. 19
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2025
New winery aims to revitalize tsunami-hit district in Miyagi
With the district’s population continuing to decline since the disaster, an official said, “We want the winery to become a new engine (for local revitalization).”
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.
Family members of Yuichi Hirotsu harvest kerner grapes at their vineyard producing pinot noir, kerner and other grapes in Yoichi, Hokkaido, on Oct. 6.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
A Japanese pinot noir town blessed by climate change now worries about the weather
Yoichi had its hottest summer since record-keeping began, with average temperatures of 22.1 degrees Celsius between June and August.
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.
Actors in period costume pose on a re-creation of a Tudor wine fountain at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, in April 2010. England’s recent wine boom is hitting limits due to scale, costs and competition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
England’s sparkling wine is losing its fizz
It really doesn’t help having higher taxes now measured on alcohol content. The going is only getting tougher for fledgling startups.
Bottles of Chianti at the international wine and spirits fair Vinitaly in Verona, Italy, on April 6
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 15, 2025
Italy’s Chianti wine makers eye South America, Asia amid U.S. tariff threat
Italy currently exports more wine to the U.S. than any other country, but producers are increasingly looking to diversify amid the trade uncertainty.
Kirin Holdings said that it will stop selling Beaujolais Nouveau in Japan due to rising freight costs and the shifting preferences of wine drinkers in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2025
Beaujolais Nouveau’s fanbase finally dries up in Japan
Kirin Holdings’ wine unit will stop selling the early-release wine in the country amid soaring costs and changing tastes in what had been a holdout export market.
At modern French restaurant Crony, sommelier Kazutaka Ozawa impresses guests with his thoughtful wine pairings.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 15, 2025
Kazutaka Ozawa: ‘The best wine is the one that brings you joy’
The oenophile, who recently earned the title of Asia’s Best Sommelier, shares his thoughts on domestic sips and Tokyo’s vino trends.
Food Court P. is home to four offshoots of popular Tokyo restaurants, such as Mikkeller Burger, which serves 10 taps of its own beer and occasional guest brews alongside its signature smash burgers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 25, 2025
Food Court P. in Futako-Tamagawa takes communal dining in new direction
The newest dining destination in the Futako-Tamagawa neighborhood offers everything from South Asian curries to smash burgers.
Bolstered by a strong turnout last year, Raw Wine Tokyo, a natural wine festival, is returning to quench the thirst of natural wine lovers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 9, 2025
The world’s biggest natural wine festival returns to Tokyo
After impressing the city’s wine buffs last year, Raw Wine is back with more than 80 natural wine producers from around the world.
After focusing on cabernet sauvignon in Napa Valley, winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi moved to make pinot noir at the renowned Freeman Vineyard & Winery in Sonoma County.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 13, 2025
In California, a Nikkei vintner finds his heritage and purpose
The discovery of a distant relative’s wine legacy in California led winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi to look at his vocation in a new light.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
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."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
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.

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
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