An island nation surrounded by ocean buys most of its salt from the far side of the world. Starting at a white island off Hiroshima, here is why Japan imports its salt from Mexico and Australia.
Say you can hear plants and people back away slowly. Turns out it's real: researchers at Japan's Institute of Science Tokyo built a transparent 70-nanometer carbon-nanotube electrode that reads a crop's bioelectric stress signals for up to 10 months, even in the rain.
In 2002, Japan's Kindai University pulled off the world's first full-cycle bluefin tuna farming. Two decades on, the major seafood companies are walking away and commercial output is fading. The irony: the headwind is the recovery of wild tuna stocks. A look at the gap between sustainable and profitable.
Japan's food exports hit a record 1.7 trillion yen in 2025, a 13th straight high, while its calorie-based self-sufficiency stays at 38%. Why both are true: wagyu, green tea, the 27% feed rate and the 64% production-value figure, explained for global readers.