New York cake designer and pastry chef Sylvia Weinstock (right) poses with  Suzette Co. Ltd. President Goki Arita (center) and pastry chef Takahiro Komai at a press conference announcing the launch of a new brand, Henri & Sylvia, under Suzette's Henri Charpentier line, at Ginza Maison Henri Charpentier on Sept. 7. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
New York cake designer and pastry chef Sylvia Weinstock (right) poses with Suzette Co. Ltd. President Goki Arita (center) and pastry chef Takahiro Komai at a press conference announcing the launch of a new brand, Henri & Sylvia, under Suzette's Henri Charpentier line, at Ginza Maison Henri Charpentier on Sept. 7. | YOSHIAKI MIURA


First lady Akie Abe (3rd from left) opens a barrel of newly made
First lady Akie Abe (3rd from left) opens a barrel of newly made "Yamato no Kokoro" (Spirit of Japan) sake with, from left, Inokichi Shinjo, president of Suehiro Sake Co., Hiroshi Uemura from Akie Farm, U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, Norito Shinmura, founder of Shinmura Design Office and Atsuko Yamada from Yamada Momen Orimoto Cotton Factory to mark the sake's release in Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo on Sept. 12. The sake, with 750 bottles hitting the market on Oct. 1, was made from rice Abe grew in Yamaguchi Prefecture and brewed in Fukushima Prefecture. | SAYURI DAIMON