Food
The secret to a refreshing cocktail or mocktail might be growing in the garden
If you enjoy a tasty, refreshing summer cocktail or mocktail, why not grow your own? No, you're not likely to grow the spirits -- although they do come from plants (vodka from potatoes, tequila from agave and so on). But you can grow other ingredients that make those spirits delicious.… Read
How bugs and beet juice could play roles in the race to replace artificial dyes in food
As pressure grows to get artificial colors out of the U.S. food supply, the shift may well start at Abby Tampow’s laboratory desk. On an April afternoon, the scientist hovered over tiny dishes of red dye, each a slightly different ruby hue. Her task? To match the synthetic shade used… Read
Baskin-Robbins teams up with Japan’s oldest department store for brand-new traditional ice cream flavor
Mitsukoshi is the first name in department stores in Japan…literally. When it opened in 1904, Mitsukoshi’s branch in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi neighborhood became the very first modern department store in Japan, but the company’s roots go back centuries, to the kimono shop Echigoya which opened in 1683 and was one of the… Read
FamilyMart serves up Japanese nostalgia with new frozen choco banana that’s a sell-out hit
Japanese convenience stores are filled with weird and wonderful products, but sometimes the importance of these products might pass you by if you’re not a local. That’s the case with FamilyMart’s new Frozen Choco Banana, which is pretty self-explanatory for people seeing it for the first time, but for locals this… Read
Foreign travelers’ lukewarm reactions to traditional Japanese inn food causing changes in Kyoto
While Kyoto has always been among the nation’s top travel destinations, the surge in inbound tourism is creating overtourism woes in a city where the travel infrastructure isn’t on the same large scale as Tokyo or Osaka. But in addition to some unpleasant side effects stemming from Kyoto’s sky-high popularity with overseas… Read
Coca-Cola Japan changes recipe for best-seller matcha latte, but is it worth a sip?
Matcha latte seems like it should be a pretty consistent drink, what with it really only having four ingredients: matcha powder, sugar, milk, and water. And yet, depending on the ratios between them, you can end up with a lot of different flavors, and if you go too far in one… Read
7-Eleven adds U.S. orange chicken to its range in Japan
Our reporter Tasuku Egawa is very particular about orange chicken, having eaten it regularly during his approximately 10 years of living in the United States. Despite being Japanese born and bred, Egawa says he’s eaten more orange chicken in America than he’s had miso soup in his entire life, and the variety… Read
Nekojita Fufu: Cute cat robot cools your drinks, becomes a viral sensation online
Have you got “cat’s tongue“? Lots of people do, particularly in Japan, where the term, known as nekojita in Japanese, is used to describe people who are sensitive to hot food or drinks. While those with cat’s tongue usually have to set drinks and food aside until they’ve cooled down a… Read
Japan’s largest indie ice cream convention returns to Tokyo in Golden Week
It probably doesn’t get brought up as often as it should, but Japan has a very rich and diverse array of ice cream. The offerings found in convenience stores and supermarkets like the Jumbo Monaka and Yukimi Daifuku are excellent examples of this, but beyond all that, there’s an even larger ecosystem of frozen… Read
Randy’s Donuts Japan announces grand opening date for Tokyo, Japan-exclusive sweets
Earlier this year our sweets sensors began happily tingling at the news that Randy’s Donuts will be coming to Japan, and not just as a limited-time pop-up promotion either. The Los Angeles landmark donut chain, known for its tasty treats and colossal donut signs, is opening its first-ever shop in Japan. We now… Read
