food safety
Ever sit down to eat a meal and wish you knew how many calories or salt were in your food? Ever cooked a piece of meat or fish only to later wonder whether it might have gone bad? Last week, Chinese Internet giant Baidu announced that it has been working on a pair of wi-fi-enabled high-tech chopsticks that will be able to detect the nutritional makeup of the food it touches as well as warning consumers of any safety issues such as contaminants or expired food.
According to Reuters and others, a major foreign-owned restaurant chain operating in China possibly used tainted meat products. An organized crime group exposed on May 2 is said to have sent falsely labeled meat products containing rat, fox and other contaminants to the Mongolian hot pot specialty restaurant chain Little Sheep which is owned by U.S.-based Yum! Brands of the U.S., operators of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and other well-known restaurant chains. This latest revelation comes to light not long after it was revealed this past January that KFC China was using chicken that had received excessive doses of growth promoting agents and antibiotics. China has become a major market for the restaurant titan, and the company is said to be at wits end as it deals with successive scandals occurring there.
Read More
A thesis which assesses the risks of internal radiation exposure within Fukushima Prefecture following the explosions at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, suggests that the effects of internal radiation fall far below that recorded after Chernobyl.
Ryugo Hayano, who works as a professor at Tokyo University’s Science Research Department, has collected the findings of doctors who conducted research into internal radiation exposure among those living inside of the Fukushima Prefecture. He consolidated these findings into an English journal entitled ‘Proceedings of Japan Academy Series B89’, which is available on the net.
The latest journal is a collection of reports that looks at the degree of radiation exposure through daily food consumption and it is reported to be the first of its kind.


Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Cup Noodle’s Nissin develops space ramen, space curry rice for astronauts to eat among the stars
Drift ice in Japan is a disappearing winter miracle you need to see now
Can we be just like Shohei Ohtani on a budget with a Hello Kitty cap?
Wow, literature is cute! Hiroshima library designs anime mascots for decimal classifications
One of Japan’s rarest sweets is a sell-out hit that looks and tastes like frost
Japanese train platform door tech promotes safety, illusions of being in a sci-fi universe
How does the GAP store taste? We send Mr. Sato to the world’s first GAP cafe to find out
National Tanuki Cake Habitat Map aims at conserving the once-beloved but now endangered dessert
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky
Tokyo Skytree turns pink for the cherry blossom season
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 1]
Japan has only one airport named after a samurai, so let’s check out Kochi Ryoma【Photos】
Japanese drugstore sells onigiri at pre-stupid era prices, but how do they compare to 7-Eleven?
Burning through cash just to throw things away tops list of headaches when moving house in Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Wow, literature is cute! Hiroshima library designs anime mascots for decimal classifications
One of Japan’s rarest sweets is a sell-out hit that looks and tastes like frost
Japanese train platform door tech promotes safety, illusions of being in a sci-fi universe
How does the GAP store taste? We send Mr. Sato to the world’s first GAP cafe to find out
National Tanuki Cake Habitat Map aims at conserving the once-beloved but now endangered dessert
We revisited Sweets Paradise after a decade to see if Japan’s dessert buffet still delivers
Father and son arrested for impersonating Shohei Ohtani to commit fraud
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 1]
Skyscraper sized Pokémon cards to appear in Tokyo all year long in Tocho projection mapping event
Japan’s craziest burger chain takes menchi katsu to new extreme levels
Amazing Pokémon parade with over 30 different species held as World Championships finish【Video】