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Shokugeki no Soma is about a boy named Sōma Yukihira who dreams of becoming a chef. Courtesy of VIZ Media hide caption

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Courtesy of VIZ Media

The Salt

Food Manga: Where Culture, Conflict And Cooking All Collide

In Japan, a country rich with visual storytelling, food has skyrocketed as a genre of manga — and the stories often depict a struggle for self-improvement.

Pedestrians in Tokyo watch as Emperor Akihito speaks to the nation. In the rare video message, Akihito said old age and illness may make it difficult for him to fulfill his public duties. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images hide caption

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Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

In A Rare Speech, Japan's Emperor Hints At Abdicating

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Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Sergei Ilnitsky/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Sergei Ilnitsky/AFP/Getty Images

How The Trump Campaign Weakened The Republican Platform On Aid To Ukraine

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Delegates hold up signs with the Clinton campaign slogan during last month's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

How 'Stronger Together' Became Clinton's Response To 'Make America Great Again'

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Shokugeki no Soma is about a boy named Sōma Yukihira who dreams of becoming a chef. Courtesy of VIZ Media hide caption

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Courtesy of VIZ Media

Food Manga: Where Culture, Conflict And Cooking All Collide

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Students perform a creative writing exercise at Cold Water Well Middle School. Students write descriptive prose from the perspective of a human statue, a blind person feeling the statue, and an outside observer. Anthony Kuhn/NPR hide caption

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Anthony Kuhn/NPR

In China, Some Schools Are Playing With More Creativity, Less Cramming

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This is what's called a "specimen lot" — a large mason jar holding smaller vials of parasitic worms gathered by a researcher in 1927. The Smithsonian collection has more than 120,000 specimen lots. Kristin Adair/NPR hide caption

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Kristin Adair/NPR

#NPRWormWeek: Worms Are Bottled Up In The Smithsonian's Crawl Space

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