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July 12, 2026
 

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DRINKING

Sumadori Meets, a bar specializing in nonalcoholic beverages, in Tokyo's busy Omotesando district
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Japanese brewers expand zero-proof and low-alcohol lineups
The companies believe that many young consumers still want to enjoy the lively atmosphere of drinking parties while avoiding or limiting alcohol consumption.
The share of drunken-driving accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, is "extremely high," Japan's annual white paper on traffic safety noted.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2026
10% of e-scooter accidents in Japan resulted from drunken driving in 2025
Of the 386 accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, drunken driving was blamed for 43 of them.
Jack Daniel’s Whiskey at the Brown-Forman Corp. distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2026
Why these are sobering times for alcohol companies
For years, the industry relied on drinking remaining deeply woven into social life and consumer culture, but health concerns and tighter budgets are prompting people to drink less.
A vehicle modified to look like an unmarked police car before being driven by a man suspected of drunken driving is seized by Tokyo police on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2026
Saitama man arrested over alleged drunken driving of fake police car
Ren Nakamura, 23, is suspected of driving the vehicle, which had been modified to look like an unmarked police car, and crashing it into a utility pole.
Unable to find much information on Japanese wine tourism in English, Nick Rowan decided to put together a guide to the country's wine regions.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 6, 2026
Charting Japan’s emerging wine scene
Nick Rowan has produced a comprehensive guide to Japan’s wine regions and producers as global interest continues to grow.
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference in Ontario, California, on Jan. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 21, 2026
FBI chief sues magazine over reports about drinking and absences
The lawsuit, ​filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks $250 ⁠million in damages from the Atlantic.
The recently concluded Sake Park invited younger brewers to make sake more approachable for attendees in their 20s and 30s.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 10, 2026
Tokyo’s sake calendar is filled to the brim
Large-scale sake festivals are taking over the city next weekend. We find out why and help you decide which one to attend.
Kiyoshi Gonda (left), sixth-generation sakemaker of Gonda Shuzo in Saitama Prefecture, wants to make his sake from as many local ingredients as possible.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2026
A Saitama sake brewery embraces a little-known rice variety
Gonda Shuzo in Kumagaya is banking on Sake Musashi, a local cultivar, to define the terroir of the region’s sake.
Anzu Kojima (right) and Francois Proust of Three Grapes wine bar want guests to keep an open mind when they try Japanese wines.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 25, 2026
‘For Japanese wine, you must forget everything you know about wine’
Leave your preconceived notions of vino at the door of Three Grapes, a new bar offering in-depth, guided tastings of domestic wine.
At Ume Domaine Arimoto farm in Wakayama Prefecture, Suiko, a rarer cultivar of plum, is prized for its pear-like aroma, which gives "umeshu" (plum liqueur) an elegant character.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 13, 2026
Japanese plum liqueur soaks up a new identity
Long viewed as just a sweet sip, “umeshu” is now getting the spotlight, thanks to a growing breed of producers who are showcasing the exciting possibilities of the beverage.
Rosewood Miyakojima's Choma bar is a stylish beachfront venue.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Feb 23, 2026
At Choma, drinks come with a shot of folklore
Rosewood Miyakojima’s new beachfront bar shakes up inventive cocktails inspired by the island’s myths and traditions.
A bartender prepares traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis-based cocktails in Shanghai on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 17, 2026
‘Punk wellness’: China’s stressed youth mix traditional medicine and cocktails
Bars focused on traditional Chinese medicine have popped up in several cities across the country.
A reduced sense of satisfaction after drinking could lead to excessive alcohol consumption, researchers have found.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 16, 2026
Weakened satisfaction likely to drive excessive drinking, study finds
A weakening of a mechanism that produces a sense of satisfaction after drinking could lead to excessive alcohol consumption, a team of Japanese and other researchers has found.
Pints of beer at the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2026
The ‘Guinness effect’: Why stout is suddenly booming
The U.K.’s biggest-selling beer, Guinness continues to grow; it’s ascended so quickly that it’s even triggered periodic shortages, forcing some pubs to ration supplies.
Driftwood Bar & Grill, part of Fairmont Tokyo's trio of bars on its 43rd floor, offers creative cocktails and panoramic views of Tokyo's Minato Ward.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 13, 2026
At Driftwood, cocktails flow to the sounds of city pop
Fairmont Tokyo’s new bar concept is an open space of three sky-high bars, including a classy area serving cross-cultural sips and a listening bar playing retro hits.
Singapore's Orchid Sake Brewery is one of the small but emerging number of sake breweries in Asia.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 9, 2026
Sakemaking takes root beyond Japan, from India to Singapore
A new breed of young sakemakers in Asia are reinventing sake by brewing with it indigenous rice and tailoring it to local palates and cuisines.
Women use a pipe to fill water from a bore well in a village in Alwar, Rajasthan, India.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2025
India’s water crunch brews risks for beverage giants
The challenges for the brewers in Rajasthan mirror a wider crisis across India, which holds 17% of the world’s population but just 4% of its freshwater.
Takashi Murakami's collaboration with champagne maker Dom Perignon marks the artist's first-ever foray into wine label design.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 27, 2025
A Champagne with notes of peach, citrus and Takashi Murakami’s flowers
The Japanese artist has lent his floral motif to two limited-edition bottles of Dom Perignon — just the kind of hip bubblies you’ll want to pop at the year-end party.
Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (second from left) greets attendees while wearing a happi coat at a tasting event for sake from the prefecture, on Tuesday in Paris.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2025
Tottori governor promotes local goods in Paris
The visit to the French capital was arranged based on Gov. Shinji Hirai’s wish for his prefecture to deepen its relations with Europe.
Industry professionals gathered in Kyoto to discuss sake at the Sake Samurai Summit.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 11, 2025
Industry experts weigh sake’s global future at Kyoto summit
Participants at the Sake Samurai Summit in Kyoto discussed how global enthusiasm and domestic headwinds are reshaping Japan’s sake trade.
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.

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