News On Japan

Bear meat vending machine is a first for Japan

Apr 08 (BBC) - Japanese vending machines, which offer whale meat, snails-in-a-can or edible insects, have a new dish on the menu: wild bear meat.

Different cuts of local black bear are sold from a vending machine in Semboku city, according to a Japanese daily.

Customers can buy fatty or lean meat for about 2,200 yen per 250g, reports the Mainichi Shimbun.

Asiatic black bears are classed as internationally vulnerable. Japan says it limits numbers that can be hunted.

Run by local restaurant Soba Goro, the machine in Semboku in northern Akita prefecture reportedly sells 10-15 packs a week of meat from bears killed in nearby mountains by local hunters. ...continue reading

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Kyoto City significantly raised its lodging tax from March 1st, increasing the maximum charge per person per night from 1,000 yen to as much as 10,000 yen, in a move aimed at tackling overtourism and funding the preservation of cultural assets, even as questions remain about its impact on visitors and the local economy.

A former emergency responder and foreign tourists worked together to rescue a woman in her 80s who was trapped inside an overturned light vehicle in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture.

Tokyo Metro and Toshiba have launched Japan’s first demonstration test allowing passengers to pass through ticket gates without touching them by using their smartphones’ Bluetooth function.

The admission fee for the World Heritage-listed Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, was revised on March 1st for the first time in 11 years, introducing a dual pricing system that significantly raises costs for visitors from outside the city.

An eight-year-old Australian girl died after a snowmobile overturned in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, at around 11 a.m. on February 28th, with authorities investigating the cause of the accident.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Food NEWS

Japan byFood and Shizuka visit Tsukishima, Tokyo’s street food hotspot, to meet Bon-Chan, the famous tortoise adored by locals and visitors. (Japan by Food)

In the culinary world, this is the "Great Debate." It’s the kitchen equivalent of choosing between a heavy-duty pickup truck and a precision-engineered Italian sports car.

This is behind the counter in Japan at Eiraiken, a small machi-chuka, or Japanese style Chinese restaurant, tucked away in a quiet Yokohama neighborhood. (Paolo fromTOKYO)

A crispy, savory bread known as “mentaiko France” is drawing long lines and racking up viral views on social media, with specialty shops emerging and demand surging as the rich, roe-filled baguette gains momentum across Japan.

Japan byFood and Shizuka try a new, luxury yakitori restaurant tucked away on a backstreet in one of Tokyo’s most popular entertainment hotspots, Shibuya’s Dogenzaka area.

The unbelievable discipline these Japanese elementary school students have to serve each other lunch in Japan is so heart warming to see! (Japanese Food Craftsman)

An American man came to Japan with a dream — but without the language. Inspired by anime, he moved to Japan and began working at a small eel shop in Kobe.

This is a day in the life in Japan, following Shota, a fourth generation Japanese oyster farmer at Yamaguchi Suisan in Noto. (Paolo fromTOKYO)