Today we want to cover another superfood -- natto. WebMD says that a number of the active ingredients in Natto, including Nattokinase and Vitamin K2, help to control cardiovascular diseases.

Given that 16% of all Japanese children (about 2.6m kids) were apparently living in poverty in 2012, we are probably looking at almost a million households of 2-4 people who have to live on JPY2,680,000 a year.

There can be few more satisfying meals in Japan than a steaming (or chilled) bowl of ramen (Japanese noodle soup dish.) Pork, miso, soy, salt, curry, or vinegar flavored. Thick or thin, al dente or soft.

People are going "raw" and moving away from heavy fat and preservative-laden diets. A good measure of just how many people are doing this can be found from the sales of juicers and blenders in the market.

A little publicized class action court case is going on in the Supreme Court in Australia, which may have long-term ramifications for smaller Japanese health food exporters.

We traveled out to Hidaka town in Saitama at the foothills of the Okuchichibu mountain range, to join dozens of others to celebrate Alishan's 2012 Food Festival, at their wonderful riverside warehouse/home/cafe.

Disturbing "finds" have arisen in the press, indicating there were some very ill-informed decisions made by authorities.

What commodities does China make that Japan vitally needs and would be severely hurt if they couldn't get it?

A restaurant chain, Watami, is providing people with a way to enjoy themselves but at a much lower price than a year ago.

Look out waistband, it's The Return of Micky-D's