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November 22, 2024
 

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William Campbell
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Aug 12, 2005
Keeping your wines alive in the heat
As it becomes warm enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, owners of large wine collections, or even a few special bottles, should be asking themselves, "Just how hot is too hot?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 8, 2005
No reason to fear the green fairy
Absinthe: muse of poets and painters, tipple of mass murderers. Is it a bringer of truth, or of madness and moral depravity? Known at its peak variously as the Green Goddess, Holy Water, the Green Fairy and "the life plasma of the gods and free thinkers," Absinthe was banned for nearly 100 years, but...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 13, 2005
To cut a long bottle short . . . Champagne gets it, samurai style
There is no sound more synonymous with celebration than the sharp pop of a Champagne cork. Professionals, of course, recommend easing the cork out slowly enough so that only a slight gasp is heard, which one waggish sommelier likened to "the sound of a contented woman."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 8, 2005
A new cellarful of tipples
The dot-com era saw an unfortunate number of foreign wine promoters descend on Japan. They were armed with snappy Powerpoint presentations and talk of quick riches, but their only apparent success was in relieving investors of their excess cash before moving on.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 11, 2005
Wines of Washington State
Every state in America now lays claim to indigenous winemaking attempts -- from Alaskans experimenting with Salmonberry wine to alcoholic beverage conglomerates setting their sights on fallow potato patches in Idaho in a quest for inexpensive, "undiscovered" potential vineyards. The results of these...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 14, 2005
Siphoning the cant out of decanting
Guidebooks recommend it. Nose-in-the-air sommeliers love it. Friends swear by it. But does decanting a wine really do anything to improve its taste?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 10, 2004
Six sure-fire gift ideas for fellow wine-lovers
There appears to be an entire cottage industry dedicated to making the kind of wine-themed gifts that imbibers everywhere are hoping not to receive this season -- our favorite of which is the doormat which says, "We love good wine. Did you bring any?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 12, 2004
Great red hope found at Coco
Can quality wine be made in Japan?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 8, 2004
At home with wine appreciation
Organizing a home wine-tasting party for a small group of friends can be a huge amount of fun, and is actually much easier than you might think.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 10, 2004
Imbibing without the pain
Last month's column on sulfite myths generated quite a bit of feedback. Most ran along the lines of "I'll grant you the point on sulfites not being the cause, but any idea then of why I can drink white wines without any problem, but end up with a headache from just a glass of red?" A few more prodigious...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Aug 13, 2004
Chemical lies in wine
It is received wisdom that the sulfite additives in American red wines cause many drinkers to have headaches, and that the health concerns over these 21st-century chemicals are so great that wines tainted by them are required to carry an explicit "Contains Sulfites" warning.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 9, 2004
A tale of two Pichons
Our favorite scene in "Tampopo," Juzo Itami's 1985 cult film about gastronomic excess, begins with two bums finding an expensive-looking bottle behind a Shinjuku hotel with a bit of wine left in the bottom. They deliver it to a compatriot, a sommelier who'd apparently seen better days but still has sharp...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 14, 2004
Obscure Otago is now New Zealand's 'Lord of the Reds'
Salvation is at hand for worshippers of Antipodean Pinot Noir. The "Pinot Noir grail" is to be found in Central Otago, writes British wine expert Jancis Robinson in the latest "World Atlas of Wine."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 9, 2004
A glass act that's proved hard to follow
A brief stint as an apprentice glassblower on Sado Island in the late '80s left me with a great appreciation of the aesthetics of a well-made wineglass. The weight, the balance, the cut of the lip, the curve and thinness of the bowl -- and the subtle ring after a toast -- are all factors that, when they...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 12, 2004
Flowers blossom above the Californian fog
The red wines of Burgundy are often cited as the Holy Grail for New World makers of Pinot Noir, but the results have almost invariably fallen short. So we were surprised to see wine guru Robert Parker recently laud a Pinot from New World upstart Flowers Winery as "evocative of a Domaine de la Romanee...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Feb 13, 2004
Champagne's blushful secrets stripped bare
Champagne made its debut at the French court at Versailles in the second half of the 17th century and was an instant hit with licentious aristocrats such as the regent Duc D'Orleans and Madame de Mailly, mistress of Louis XV. Ever since, Champagne has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most "romantic"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 9, 2004
Don't settle for just any old port in a storm
In this cold and quiet time of year, we often find ourselves in the mood for something warming and contemplative. A good port fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, there are more than eight completely different types of port currently being made, most of which, to paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, are nasty,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 14, 2003
On the road to wine-country romance
There has always been a friendly rivalry between Napa and Sonoma, California's two premier wine-growing regions. We think of Napa as Kyoto -- containing stunning vistas, but marred by a tour-bus mentality. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, we sometimes feel "there's no there there." Sonoma, on the other...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 10, 2003
Sherry lovers lap up the soul of Spain
Sherry. The mere mention of the word is enough to conjure up images of debauched grandmothers singing from the kitchen, "One for the cook, one for the pot." But as we recently discovered, sherry can be quite a sophisticated drink, with styles ranging from bone-dry aperitif wines to thick, nectar-of-the-gods,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Aug 15, 2003
Between choc and a hard place
The recent pounding rains of typhoon No. 10 shook our house like mad, and also triggered a crazed desire for that classic stormy winter dish, braised lamb shank. Rain and Tokyo summer heat be damned, we set out on a shopping trip clutching a recipe from Patricia Wells' "The Paris Cookbook."
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
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