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July 12, 2026
 

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AGRICULTURE

Chickpeas grown in a mixture that included lunar soil simulant inside a climate-controlled growth chamber at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2026
With lunar missions looming, scientists grow chickpeas in ‘moon dirt’
The development marks a step toward enabling astronauts on long-term moon missions to produce their own food.
A tea field in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture. A significant portion of tea fields in the prefecture is on sloped terrain in hilly and mountainous regions.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2026
Shizuoka aims to reclaim top tea status with focus on matcha
Long supported by the strength of its brand, Shizuoka now faces a number of challenges as it moves to rebuild its position in the tea market.
At Nakayama Coffee Farm, Tatsumi Kishimoto (far right) and his team run a cafe and conduct tours of the grounds for visitors. Kishimoto says Okinawan coffee farmers cannot rely on coffee-farming alone as their sole source of income.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 20, 2026
Bean by bean, coffee cultivation in Okinawa defies the odds
From setting up greenhouses to padding up soil beds with grass, coffee producers on the island are finding ways to work around climate challenges to promote their sweet brew.
Bags of rice at a supermarket in Yokohama. Japan's staple food law stipulates that releases of government-stockpiled rice be used to cover "supply shortages due to falling production."
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2026
Rice prices remain high in Japan even after stockpile releases
The country’s staple food law stipulates that releases of government-stockpiled rice be used to cover “supply shortages due to falling production.”
A promotional event for sake held by the National Tax Agency in 2024
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 10, 2026
Japan moves to help sake breweries hit by surge in rice prices
The price of sake rice harvested in 2025 is about 1.5 to 2.3 times higher than the previous year.
A farmer inspects his wheat field on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on April 3, 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2026
What’s at stake for Indian agriculture in Trump’s trade deal?
Indian farmers have expressed concern that New Delhi has made too many concessions to Washington.
A poster board shows candidates in the Miyazaki No. 2 district for Sunday's Lower House election in Hyuga, Miyazaki Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2026
Rice gaffe haunts ex-farm minister Eto on campaign trail
Eto is facing an uphill battle to retain his seat after resigning from the Cabinet last year over insensitive remarks about rice amid a spike in prices for the staple grain.
Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food rose 12.8% from the previous year to a record ¥1.7 trillion in 2025, though they fell short of the government’s ¥2 trillion target, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2026
Japan’s farm, food and fishery exports in 2025 set record for 13th year
The total failed to reach the government’s target of ¥2 trillion for 2025 even though exports to all top 10 destinations increased year on year.
Masako (left) and Takeyuki Satokawa sit on a ridge by one of their rice paddies as they recall their years of farming in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 2, 2026
‘It would only burden our children’: Aging farmers quit rice production
Training a successor is important, but most farmers have been too busy trying to survive instead, one member of an agricultural cooperative corporation said.
An employee serves a customer shopping for pork at a black pork shop in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China, on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 2, 2026
Disgruntled with Western pork, China wants to go back to black pigs
For older buyers in particular, black pork evokes childhood, when black-haired ‍pigs were ⁠raised at home and slaughtered around Lunar New Year.
Farm minister Norikazu Suzuki (left) visits a rice ball shop in Paris on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2026
Japan’s farm minister raises concerns over EU packaging rules
The Japanese government has requested the EU exempt some of its export products, such as tea leaves and mayonnaise, from the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki (left) exchanges views with a French man who owns an onigiri shop (right) on Thursday in Paris.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2026
Farm minister Suzuki visits Paris to promote rice exports
Suzuki emphasized that securing sales channels overseas will make it easier for Japanese farmers to produce rice stably.
The Microsoft data center campus currently under construction in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 15, 2026
Microsoft in record deal for soil carbon credits as data centers surge
The company has agreed with Indigo Carbon to buy a record 2.85 million soil carbon credits linked to regenerative agriculture in the United States.
Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki (far right) visits the Japanese unit of U.S. company Oishii Farm and delivers greetings in Hamura, Tokyo, on Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2026
Japan’s farm minister visits plant factory developer
Norikazu Suzuki examined strawberry and other plant varieties being developed exclusively for plant factories.
Farm minister Norikazu Suzuki stresses the need to secure demand for rice first, including foreign demand, and then promote production.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 28, 2025
Japan’s rice policy at crossroads amid output shift and high prices
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s policy is to keep production in line with demand, reversing her predecessor’s approach.
Palestinians assess a damaged site after Israeli settlers attacked their village of Deir Dibwan, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Dec. 15.
WORLD / Society
Dec 26, 2025
How Israel’s hilltop settlers coordinate attacks to expel Palestinians
For decades, settlers have built outposts on West Bank land without official authorization that, in many cases, end up ‍being accepted by Israel as formal settlements.
Iranian women perform a prayer for rainfall at the Saleh Shrine in Tehran on Nov. 14. The country is suffering from severe water shortages.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2025
When communism is the only option
Iran’s flailing response to a nationally destabilizing water crisis should be a warning to everyone.
Egg prices in Japan are soaring this season amid the spread of bird flu.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2025
Bird flu case confirmed at Ibaraki poultry farm
The outbreak at a farm in Shirosato will lead to the culling of about 970,000 egg-laying chickens, the largest such action in the country this season.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a news conference after the European Council meeting in Brussels on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2025
Europe stumbles in its attempt to bypass Trump’s global trade order
The continent fell short in sealing the Mercosur pact over the weekend. Officials say they will try again to sign the deal on Jan. 12 — but there’s no guarantee it can be salvaged.
The national federation of rice wholesalers' mutual aid cooperative associations said it has cut costs related to its rice coupons as much as possible to lower the sales price, with distribution set to being as soon as late December.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 12, 2025
Federation of rice wholesalers’ associations to sell rice coupon at lower price
Costs related to the coupons were cut as much as possible in order to lower the sales price, said the federation, known as Zenbeihan.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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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