Are Sake Labels the Ultimate “No-Entry” Sign to Foreigners?
The sake label conundrum. Beautiful, yes. But legible to all?
A Sake-Brewer’s House Steeped in Tradition
A 200-year-old Japanese house has evolved for modern lifestyles but stays true to its heritage.
Rumiko Obata, Obata Sake Brewery
A fifth-generation sake brewery owner forsakes life in the big city and returns home to Sado Island, ushering the family business into a new era of international prominence.
Fukushima Sake Diary: Five Years after 3.11, Spreading the Gospel of Natural and Organic Sake
Profile of pioneering sake maker Yasuhiko Niida
Marie Kondo: The Queen of Clean
Japan's Decluttering Dynamo Has Shown Millions The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Bon Yagi: Emperor of New York's Japanese East Village, Part 1
Profile of the entrepreneur who has, over the past 30 years, shaped the East Village's Japan Town.
Sake's thousand-year-old legacy of fermentation gets an update for modern tastes
The growing number of high-quality sakes available both nationwide and in the Twin Cities makes this a good time to get familiar with sake
The Yeast Hunters: Revitalizing Japan's Ancient Sake Tradition
At Tokyo's top agricultural university's department of brewing and fermentation, one professor's quest for flower yeasts
How New York's Sake Scene Got Serious
A look at the rise in quality of jizake, or small-batch, artisanal sake in Japan, and how New Yorkers have embraces it.
Place-Based Tastes: Delicacies by the Sea
The sake, tea and small-batch products of Saga, Japan
Aji Sushi
Review of Sushi Nakamura, Tokyo
Exploring the Borderlands of Race, Nation, Sex and Gender
I review psychologist Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu's latest book, on mixed-race Asian Americans
Japanese Hot Spring Inn
Review of Hakone Ginyu ryokan, Japan
Baked Sesame Tofu
Review of Jiki Miyazawa, Kyoto
Brushing Up on Your Japanese on a Small Screen
I test drive a series of foreign language instruction mobile apps
The History Page: Order of Infamy
Essay marking the 70th anniversary of FDR's signing of Executive Order 9066.
Shop Talk: For Saké's Sake
A profile on the East Village Saké shop Sakaya and a primer on saké,
Hiring a Consultant for an Unforgettable Trip
I consulted with four different online travel agencies to help plan a trip to Japan and Hawaii, then wrote this consumer column on my experience.