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December 25, 2024
 

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Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Mar 28, 2020
Japanese mountain vegetables are the epitome of spring
As the snow melts and spring approaches, sansai (mountain vegetables) start to flourish. These greens are the true harbingers of Japanese spring, offering a refreshingly bitter counterpart to the typically mild vegetality of other spring vegetables such as peas and asparagus. Without exception, when...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 28, 2019
Why is vegan shōjin ryōri cuisine so deeply compelling?
Japan's vegan temple food, shu014djin ryu014dri, is rooted in hundreds of years of tradition. What keeps the practice alive and relevant today?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Jun 29, 2019
On Shodoshima, one salt maker is reviving a lost art
With the end of Japan's decades-long government salt monopoly, the country's artisanal salt-makers are once again thriving.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Mar 30, 2019
Yuzu koshō might be the only spicy condiment you need
Thanks to a few key producers who make yuzu koshu014d responsibly and ethically, Japan's yuzu koshu014d boom shows no signs of letting up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Jan 2, 2019
Could potato flour revitalize a small town in Iwate Prefecture?
According to Katsuyasu Ito, chef and owner of L'Aureole Tanohata, Hidemitsu Kikuchi, is the last person producing imo no kona (potato flour) commercially in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Sep 29, 2018
Bringing shottsuru fish sauce back from the brink of extinction
Shottsuru is a fish sauce made from sandfish in Akita Prefecture. When its commercial production plummeted in the early 1990s, one man made it his mission to revive the local product.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Aug 4, 2018
When it comes to high-quality sesame, the roaster is key
For five generations, family-owned Wadaman sesame has used their exceptional roasting process to produce top-notch sesame oils and products.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Apr 28, 2018
Nattō will change your life, if only you'll give it a try
Nattu014d aficionados embrace its fermented nose and are addicted to its nutty, yet sharply complex flavors. But the fermented beans are not loved by everyone.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2017
Remembering a stalwart of the mayonnaise world
Masashi Matsuda, who died in September, became a folk hero and media darling for his fight to maintain the integrity of his product.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Oct 28, 2017
Missing our Thanksgiving feast in Japan, with all its bustle and chaos
A free-range turkey supplier in Ishikawa Prefecture offers nostalgic North Americans a taste of home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Jul 29, 2017
Putting dairy cows to pasture makes for healthy soil, delicious milk
Milk production, which was essentially nil during the Edo Period (1603-1868), did not begin in Japan until the Meiji Era (1868-1912).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Apr 29, 2017
Diving into the myriad ways to enjoy Japan's sea greens
The seasonality of fruits, vegetables, nuts and fungi growing in the fields and mountains of Japan is fairly obvious to many of us who we are familiar with such places and foods.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2016
The flexibility of 'osechi ryori,' Japan's traditional New Year's food
During the New Year's holidays, many Japanese eat osechi ryōri, a collection of traditional foods developed during the Heian Period (794-1185). It originally consisted of fish or vegetables simmered in soy sauce and sweet mirin but, as the years passed, other foods were incorporated into the compendium...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Oct 28, 2016
Finding extraordinary 'konbu' in a remote Hokkaido fishing village
Reaching Rausu, a fishing village in Eastern Hokkaido, isn't easy. Public transport is almost non-existant to this small community situated halfway up Shiretoko Peninsula, which juts out from the edge of Japan's northernmost island. Though it's remote and tiny, Rausu produces some of the nation's best...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Jul 29, 2016
'Kioke': The secret ingredient of soy sauce
Shodoshima, the largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, is not only covered in thousands of olive trees, it also holds half of Japan's remaining wooden soy sauce barrels. Though the island has produced olive oil for about 115 years, soy sauce has been made here for centuries — and has weathered many...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Apr 29, 2016
Salted and dried on Japan's far side
Friendly faces call out greetings as I stroll through the morning market in Wajima on the northern end of Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture. I'm a big supporter of the fish sauce and fermented foods sold here, and it seems some vendors have remembered me. There may be less wrinkled women selling their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Oct 30, 2015
The island making Japan's best olive oil
When I first married, I stocked the pantry with a can of affordable Spanish olive oil sourced through a friend. But as time meandered along and finances became more secure, I began to buy better quality oil, until I was using an organic variety procured at our local flea market. Somewhere along the line,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Sep 18, 2015
The rejuvenating power of cycad miso
Tears well up in 88-year-old Izue Hamada's eyes as she holds up a halved nari (cycad) nut for me to see.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
May 29, 2015
Searching Kyoto for the holy grail of Japanese rice vinegar
Akihiro Iio, now in his late 30s, is the fifth generation of his family to run Iio Jozo, a venerable vinegar house outside of Kyoto. Using locally grown rice, the Iio family has been producing vinegar in Kyoto for more than 120 years, and since the early 1960s their output has been 100 percent organic....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2014
Niigata home brews enhance teatime
Goushi Iijima sits in front of the irori ( a traditional ash fireplace), his back ramrod straight yet somehow deeply relaxed. With measured, fluid movements, he pours cold-infused green tea into delicate clear glass cups set on lacquerware saucers.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Honda-Nissan megamerger in the works
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (second from left) and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, hold a news conference on merger talks on Monday in Tokyo.
Picturesque Japan hot spring town limits day trippers
Ginzan Onsen hot springs in Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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