Science & technology is really Japan's kind of thing.   Okayama University sent barley grains to the International Space Station to be stored to see how they survived in space.   Once returned to Earth, they were grown to see if any effects of the space storage could be found - none were.   

The Japanese brewer Sapporo - one of the worlds biggest brewing companies & clearly not novices to PR - is to make a beer from the grain to be ready by November 2008.   Only 100 bottles of this beer will be made but the brewery has no plans to sell them.