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Food — Life in Japan — Page 2

  • food/ Mar 14, 2026

    The Return Gift

    The confectionery industry invented a holiday, set a 2-3x return rule, and built a ¥50 billion market out of obligation

    Rows of pastel ribbon-tied gift boxes with Japanese price tags arranged in a shop display.
  • food/ Jan 24, 2026

    The Sticky Subject

    Japan's most divisive breakfast — the smell, the strings, and why three packs cost less than a coffee

    Chopsticks lift sticky natto beans, trailing fine threads, from a bowl beside white rice on a wooden tray.
  • food/ Jan 15, 2026

    The Marbled Truth

    What makes Kobe beef Kobe beef, how the grading system works, and where to eat it without overpaying - or overcooking

    Three thick marbled beef steaks sear with rosemary and garlic on a hot teppan grill, beside a bowl of rice.
  • food/ Jan 12, 2026

    Grilled As You Like It

    Osaka mixes everything together, Hiroshima stacks it in layers - the regional rivalry behind Japan's favourite savoury pancake

    A cook flips a savoury okonomiyaki pancake with a spatula on a steaming griddle in a busy restaurant.
  • food/ Jan 2, 2026

    The Glowing Grid

    Four million vending machines line Japanese streets - selling hot coffee at mountain summits and cold beer at 3am. Why they work here when they fail everywhere else.

    A red drinks vending machine stands alone on a dirt path beside flooded rice paddies under cloudy hills.