Culinary

The Amami Islands have long existed in the crosswinds. Locals have endured powerful typhoons and shifting geopolitical winds,...

Travelers come to Okinawa to unplug and refresh, to dip their toes in the sand or their fins in the water. Yet the most memor...

“On Amami Oshima, there is a kimono woven with the natural environment itself.”—Thida Moon The family that runs the Thida ...

Thirty-five years ago German businessman Wolfram Opitz was sent to Tokyo for two months to help train a partner company in Japan. “What an interesting city and country,” he thought to himself. Today, he and his wife Yuka are the proud owners of Okinawa’s only German-style microbrewery at the steps of the island prefecture’s most famous landmark, Shuri Castle.

Travelers to Japan undoubtedly view sake as the traditional liquor of Japan. Histori-cally they wouldn’t be wrong, since Sudō Honke, the world’s oldest sake brewery (and one of the oldest companies in the world), was founded in 1141 in Ibaraki Prefecture, just north of Tokyo. However Southern Japan is home to another authentic Japanese spirit—shochu, which was first produced about 500 years ago, its roots firmly planted in Japan’s warmer southern climes.

In north Japan, the snow usually starts to melt in the towns and lowlands in March, yet lingers up in the mountains as late a...

Hokkaido winters are world-famous with luxury ski resorts and waist-deep powder snow. However, alternative winter activities, suc...

Honeybees at Kodo Bee Farm thrive in Tokushima's rich nature and contribute to the local ecosystem while producing delicious honey.