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Link to original content: http://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Tea-Leaves
Tea Leaves: News & Insights - Nikkei Asia
Oysters from Saga prefecture with citrus sauce topped with nori seaweed, as served at high-end Tokyo eatery Sugalabo. (Photo by Michiyo Nakamoto)
Tea Leaves

Serious reservations about Japan's fine dining scene

Set menus and formal sittings are taking the fun out of upmarket restaurants

4 December 2024
There may be one or two fewer historic shophouses in Maymyo -- or Pyin Oo Lwin -- since the author last visited five years ago, but for the most part, the physical appearance of the central Myanmar town has changed little. (All photos by Jan Olson)
Tea Leaves

Colonial history lessons from an old Anglo-Burmese hill station

Myanmar's former summer capital Maymyo is peaceful, for now, but conflict looms

27 November 2024
As more tourists and developers flock to Canggu, a coastal village on the Indonesian island of Bali, the remaining patches of green have become all the more precious. (All photos by Lu-Hai Liang)
Tea Leaves

Bali is a lesson in the fragility of paradise

The island of the gods reckons with the specter of overtourism

20 November 2024
The writer’s cat in cute mode: Somewhere between a cult and a fad, felines are now respected members of the Japanese family. (Photo by Stephen Mansfield)
Tea Leaves

Japan's triumph of the cats

Some find them spooky, but society's love of the 'cute' and the 'clean' propel felines forward

13 November 2024
A Chinese opera performance draws a crowd on a backstreet in the Kwai Chai Hong area of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown district in August.
Tea Leaves

What makes a Chinatown?

Kwai Chai Hong in Kuala Lumpur offers a model for inclusive urban regeneration

6 November 2024
The New Zealand All Blacks perform the haka -- a Maori ceremonial war dance -- before a Bledisloe Cup match against the Australian Wallabies in 2017 in Sydney.
Tea Leaves

All Blacks show how rituals boost sporting mojo

'It is death! It is death!' New Zealand's haka adds to the spectacle

30 October 2024
Babies fill a nursery ward at a hospital in Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo. For a range of reasons, more women are choosing to freeze their eggs.
Tea Leaves

The politics of egg-freezing, Japanese style

Government subsidies for harvesting intensify dilemmas for women

29 October 2024
A monument to the Pathet Lao, the Laotian communists and their struggle against the might of the U.S. military, in front of the Lao People’s Army History Museum in Vientiane. (Photo by Tom Vater)
Tea Leaves

Paradox of Laos shows how the past can haunt a place

U.S. 'secret war' has left the country struggling to escape its isolationist past

23 October 2024
Does the new Azabudai Hills complex represent Tokyo's evolution or the erosion of its essence? (Photo by Luuvu Hoang)
Tea Leaves

Small reflections on mega-complexes transforming Tokyo

Luxury developments cast a shadow over the city's vibrant streetscape

9 October 2024
Chinese tourists "flood" a paddy field outside Zhaoxing Dong village, in the southwestern province of Guizhou. (All photos by Kit Yeng Chan)
Tea Leaves

China tourism takes a great leap inward

Mass domestic tourism is replacing historic charm with consumerism

2 October 2024
A barista prepares pour-overs at Tokyo's Ignis Coffee, known for its niche methods and rare beans. (All photos by Phoebe Amoroso)
Tea Leaves

Japan in a cup of coffee

Tokyo's specialty cafes combine art, science and pure medicine

25 September 2024
Nothing tastes quite like rice steamed in a clay pot. (Photo by Kaori Shoji)
Tea Leaves

Why rice rules Japan

The crop is embedded in the national DNA, but output is under threat

18 September 2024
A man prepares a drink at a tea kadai. Found across India, these stalls attract people not just for their tea and snacks, but also for their role as informal community hubs. (All photos by Meenakshi J)   
Tea Leaves

How life and politics converge in India's tea shops

As gathering places, traditional 'kadai' are focal points for information, gossip and butter cookies

11 September 2024
Former child star Ke Huy Quan quit acting for 20 years after struggling to find work in Hollywood. He returned with a bang in 2022, becoming the first Vietnamese refugee to win a best actor Oscar for "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Tea Leaves

Golden age for Hollywood's Asian leading men

New generation of cinema stars upturns traditional notions of macho male leads

4 September 2024
A mainstream supermarket in Sri Lanka: A recent shopping trip by the author drove home the extent to which local agriculture has declined. (Photo by Zinara Rathnayake)
Tea Leaves

You can learn a lot from a country's supermarkets

Sri Lanka's economic crises and farming decline have driven up prices, led to shortages

28 August 2024
The friendship bridge spanning the Tiau River serves as an important commercial lifeline between the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram and western Myanmar's Chin state. 
Tea Leaves

Thai border town offers geopolitical lesson for India

Bangkok's discreet yet pragmatic stance on Myanmar refugees works better than India's hostility

21 August 2024
Electronicos Fantasticos founder Ei Wada rocks out on a converted fan. The collective's members range from primary school kids to engineers at appliance companies. 
Tea Leaves

Japan's reverence for past gives new musical meaning to old appliances

Improbable avant-garde artists' collective Electronicos Fantasticos celebrates a retro-future

7 August 2024
People take photos of characters from the Japanese manga series “Chiikawa” at a pop-up store in Hong Kong. (Photo by Echo Wong)
Tea Leaves

China's stressed young people find solace in Japanese manga

Struggles facing ‘Chiikawa’ characters resonate with youth amid economic slowdown

31 July 2024
A boat plies the river in the Sundarbans National Park -- the world's largest mangrove forest. Located in the delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, the forest is described by UNESCO as "one of the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems." (Photo by Charukesi Ramadurai)
Tea Leaves

Tiger spotting among the mangroves

A conservation lesson in South Asia's forested Sundarbans region

24 July 2024
Viewers are served up insights on the world of Japanese school lunches in the recently released movie "Oishii Kyushoku 3," which unofficially translates to "Yummy School Lunch 3."  (2024 Oishii Kyushoku Production Committee) 
Tea Leaves

Learning from Japan's 'yummy' school lunches

The enduring tradition of 'kyushoku' levels the playground for pupils

17 July 2024
Noodle master Tan Kue Kim, wearing his trademark Rolex watch, fries up fare for a customer in January. He died the following month. (Photo by Dylan Loh)
Tea Leaves

Singapore hawkers highlight generational challenge to famed culinary traditions

Young cooks dip spoons into street food trade as older chefs pass on

10 July 2024
Shanghai's Lujiazui business district symbolizes both China's rapid economic rise and the challenges it faces. 
Tea Leaves

Goodbye Shanghai: reflections on five years at China's gateway

Covering tech, pandemic and social issues in commercial hub yields insights into national trajectory

5 July 2024
Japanese naval curry stands out for its dense sauce and spicy kick. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)
Tea Leaves

Patriotism and curry meet Japan's naval traditions

British-Indian contribution to naval culinary tradition feeds national spirit

26 June 2024
Not all Malaysians are happy that bak kut teh, a pork-heavy dish brought to the country over a century ago by Chinese immigrants, has been recognized as a national treasure. (All photos by Norman Goh)
Tea Leaves

Malaysian soup row provides recipe for harmony

Controversy over 'bak kut teh' underlines need for compromise and respect

19 June 2024
Young men play in the Tanintharyi River in Tagu, Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar, in March. Despite the ever-present threat of violence from an increasingly desperate military regime, daily life continues in many resistance strongholds. (All photos by Valeria Mongelli)
Tea Leaves

Life lessons from airstrikes in resistance-controlled Myanmar

In Tanintharyi, civilians learn to wait and cope with bombing campaigns

12 June 2024
Japanese poet and novelist Takashi Hiraide's cat Uzuki strikes a literary pose. Hiraide's bestselling novel "The Guest Cat" is available in 25 languages. (Courtesy of Takashi Hiraide)
Tea Leaves

How Japan's 'cat lit' lures fans abroad

Books about felines leave an outsize pawprint at home and abroad

5 June 2024
A forlorn sculpture stands guard against roadworks in the Heide sculpture garden in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg. (All photos by J.J. Rose)
Tea Leaves

Shedding light, and dust, on Australia's European art

Historic artists' retreat near Melbourne threatened by giant roadworks

29 May 2024
Radio Ceylon's oldest transmitter is pictured in this classic studio setup. The station, now called the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp., was launched by British colonial authorities in Colombo in December 1925. (All photos courtesy of the author)
Tea Leaves

How Radio Ceylon became an Asian institution

Sri Lankan station played a major role in building links with India

22 May 2024
Curries vary by type and flavor not only from country to country, but from home to home. (All photos by Meenakshi J)
Tea Leaves

Global curry trail crosses continents

Variations of the traditional Tamil dish have conquered the culinary world

15 May 2024