Fast Food With A Twist | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Innovative varieties of fast food are making some of young people's favorite dishes more convenient and tasty. They include noodles that can be held and eaten with one hand and pizzas that can be consumed on the move.

Fast Food With A Twist | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Innovative varieties of fast food are making some of young people's favorite dishes more convenient and tasty. They include noodles that can be held and eaten with one hand and pizzas that can be consumed on the move.

Fast-Food Exports | Business and Economy | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Yoshinoya, a Japanese chain of fast-food restaurants, is quickly becoming a household name in China's capital city. As of the end of August 2005, the company had 67 restaurants in Beijing. Yoshinoya is one of several Japanese restaurant chains making serious inroads throughout Asia.

Sweets In Disguise | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
With so many hamburger restaurants dotting the streets, the launch of a new outlet is usually no cause for excitement. But Mamido's Burger is an exception. Its distinctive offerings are all sweets made to look like hamburgers and other fast food.

Make Mine Macrobiotic | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
What is the secret to staying healthy? For an increasing number of Japanese people, the answer is macrobiotic food. A macrobiotic diet is a diet that emphasizes natural ingredients and is heavy on brown rice, beans, and fresh vegetables grown without artificial fertilizers.

Squeeze-and-Eat Convenience | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
A new kind of packaging is taking the food and beverage industry by storm: plastic pouches with screw-off caps. Some people consider these pouches the greatest thing since PET bottles, the plastic bottles commonly used for mineral water and other beverages.

Steam Ovens | Science and Technology | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
A revolutionary type of oven that uses steam to bake food has injected new life into the market for cooking appliances, which was generally thought to have passed its peak.

The Tastes of Nagoya | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Nagoyan food is enjoying explosive popularity in Tokyo and other parts of Japan. Restaurants serving cuisine from Aichi Prefecture have made inroads in the capital, attracting diners with distinctively Nagoyan fare.

Fish-Farming Breakthrough | Science and Technology | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The technology of fish farming, a practice that offers advantages in terms of food safety and conservation, is advancing rapidly.

Brewing up Business | Business and Economy | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Now is a great time to be a sake exporter. Interest in Japanese food overseas is one of the factors fueling sake's popularity, and in the United States - the largest export market - sake can now be ordered not just in Japanese restaurants but also in establishments serving French cuisine.

Rice Cookers - Hi-tech - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
The staple food of the Japanese is rice. There's nothing more appetizing than fluffy, shiny gohan, or boiled rice, that's been freshly cooked in water. Making gohan is incredibly easy if you have an electric rice cooker. Rice cookers are being improved all the time, and they're loaded with technological tricks to make delicious boiled rice.

Konapun - What's Cool - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan
A toy that lets kids create imitation snacks that resemble the real thing is very popular in Japan today. The toy, called Konapun, first went on sale some 20 years ago, but the new version can make even more realistic copies of food. Konapun can be used to produce miniature replicas of a wide range of foods, including donuts, cakes, and ice cream.

Layered Food | Lifestyle | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
The kasanegi (layered) look, featuring two or more layers of clothing, has become a staple of Japanese fashion in recent years, and now a culinary technique inspired by this fashion concept is gaining popularity.

Sapporo, Hokkaido's Culinary Hub | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Hokkaido is home to a rich variety of foodstuffs, and Sapporo is a great place to find fresh seafood and any number of agricultural products.

Kyoto, Spiritual Home of Japanese Cuisine | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
For more than 1,000 years, beginning in 794, the ancient city of Kyoto was the capital of Japan. Kyo-ryori (Kyoto cuisine) is the model for Japanese culinary culture, which places great importance on the use of seasonal ingredients.

Hokkaido, Cornucopia Of Fine Foods | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has selected Hokkaido as the venue for the July 2008 Group of Eight Summit. He chose the site, he says, "because I hope to use it for transmitting the beauty of Japan to the world." The island is indeed a scenic place, and it is also a treasure trove of fresh, tasty foods.

Eat ‘Til You Drop In Osaka | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Osaka, with a population of 2.64 million, is the economic hub of western Japan where foodstuffs from all across Japan are shipped for distribution. This has made it the site of fierce competition among restaurants and earned it the nickname kuidaore no machi, or "the city where you eat ‘til you drop."

Yokohama, A Port With an International Flavor | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Home to more than 3.6 million people, Yokohama today is a city that is so open to outsiders that locals say anyone can call themselves a Hamakko (Yokohama native) if they reside in the city for three days. Entrepreneurs and intellectuals from all over Japan and cultural influences from overseas have flowed into Yokohama since it was first opened as a gateway to the outside world, a process that made the city the cosmopolitan place it is today.

Sapporo, Hokkaido's Culinary Hub | J-food | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has selected Hokkaido as the venue for the July 2008 Group of Eight Summit. He chose the site, he says, "because I hope to use it for transmitting the beauty of Japan to the world." The island is indeed a scenic place, and it is also a treasure trove of fresh, tasty foods.

Cosmetics Made from Food | Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
Asymmetrical design, or clothes in which one side is not the same as the other, is currently one of the more conspicuous trends in Japanese fashion.