JAPAN

Japan Miso Soup Guide: Types, Regions & Where to Try the Best

Miso soup — misoshiru — is Japan’s most deeply personal food. Eaten at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every meal in between, it’s the foundation upon which Japanese daily life is built. Yet despite its ubiquity, miso soup is far from a simple or one-dimensional food. Japan produces hundreds of varieties of miso paste — made from fermented soybeans combined with different grains, salt concentrations, and fermentation periods — and each region of Japan has developed its own approach to miso soup, creating a culinary diversity that could occupy a lifetime of delicious exploration. From the pale, delicate shiro miso of […]

Best Japanese Drugstore Skincare to Buy in Japan (2026)

If you’ve ever walked into a Japanese drugstore — known locally as kusuri-ya or a pharmacy chain like Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Sundrug, or Cosmos — and felt completely overwhelmed by the walls of beautifully packaged skincare products, you’re not alone. Japan’s drugstore skincare scene is one of the most exciting, affordable, and effective in the world, yet it remains largely unknown to first-time visitors. Whether you’re landing in Tokyo for a week-long trip or settling in as a long-term expat, finding the best Japanese skincare products to buy in Japan drugstores can transform your routine without breaking the bank. Japanese skincare […]