All PFN ARTICLES

Japan’s decision to invest ¥1 trillion (US$6.2 billion) in “new food” is about far more than alternative proteins. It reflects a broader strategy to prepare the country for a future shaped by an ageing population, labour shortages and increasing pressure on food security.

Japan has done it again. Not with sushi, not with matcha, but with ramen that quietly rewrites what comfort food can be. Towzen, a cult vegan ramen institution born in Kyoto, has landed in Sydney’s CBD, and the queues are doing the talking. On Kent Street, inside a 140-year-old heritage building, diners line up in the heat for bowls of soy-milk ramen that feel both deeply Japanese and unexpectedly modern.