COLUMN

Today, more than 90% of the world’s populated areas are always connected to the internet. People interact digitally through social media and other online means, and capitalized on their reputations through shares, likes, and comments. This reputation permeates society as capital, and can be called evaluation capitalism . Until now, people have engaged in economic, […]

Based on the motto “Clues and Markets Can Be Found Overseas,” my activities are centered on Lifestyle Researcher, a global network of more than 600 Japanese women who have lived long-term in 100 cities in 70 countries worldwide, and work locally in various fields such as journalism and research. I hope to have an opportunity […]

Japan can perhaps be called the country with the best food in the world. In a global survey asking which countries people most want to visit after the pandemic, Japan was number one among people living in Asia and number two among those in Europe and the US. In both cases, Japan was at the […]

Today we face various global issues, such as global warming due to human activities, loss of biodiversity, nitrogen pollution, and COVID-19. From Japan, it might seem like some of these are irrelevant matters in a faraway world. However, with products and information travel all across the globe in the blink of an eye, the world […]

More than ten years have passed since COP10 was held in Nagoya and the world was introduced to the concept of satoyama—a unique environment where people and nature coexist in harmony— and the concept seems to be gradually taking root. Elsewhere, the impacts of climate change are becoming more apparent worldwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic […]

The French word terroir, frequently used in the wine industry, comes from another French word, terre, meaning “land.” Terroir refers to a combination of natural factors that give products their unique, locally rooted characteristics, including geography, terrain, and climate. At BuzzFeed, which is one of the largest digital media outlets in the US and Japan, […]

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has led to drastic changes in today’s lifestyles and habits, and there is a sense throughout society that we have entered a new phase. At the same time, we are also beginning to feel the impacts of worldwide social issues such as global warming in our daily […]

“Let’s think about ways to minimize food mileage,” “If we can reduce meat consumption by promoting vegan foods, we can cut CO2 emissions,” and “I wonder if there are any local foods that have gone unnoticed…”—These are some of the remarks from a class of sixth grade students at the Keio Yochisha Elementary School. The […]

The United Nations has said that up to 37% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from global food systems. As we all reap the benefits of these food systems, we all play a role in global warming. As such, it is essential that we reexamine consumer behavior that up until now has been indifferent […]

According to estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of the Environment, in fiscal 2019,Japan was responsible for around 5.7 million tons of edible food loss and waste. This placed Japan as the sixth worst country in the world and the overall worst in Asia for the volume of food […]