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August 15, 2024
 

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Robbie Swinnerton
Robbie Swinnerton has been living, eating and writing about food in Tokyo for over 30 years. His column, Tokyo Food File, has run in The Japan Times since 1998.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 11, 2023
Villa del Nido: Local produce, Italian technique, volcanic backdrop
Tucked away among the smallholdings of a rural community in Unzen City, it seems an unlikely setting for Villa del Nido’s sophisticated, Italian-accented, farm-to-table cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 14, 2023
Noma Kyoto’s eclectic beverage lineup leaves no stone unturned
As with the food menu, the beverage program at Noma Kyoto is the fruit of long, deep and, by all accounts, highly enjoyable consideration by Noma’s head sommelier, Ava Mees List.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 13, 2023
Noma Kyoto: The focus — and future? — of the culinary world
Noma is one of the best restaurants in the world and earlier this year it moved its entire staff to Kyoto to create a pop-up that is currently the hottest ticket in the country. Our food critic joins the podcast to talk more about this culinary experience, which ends in May.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 12, 2023
At Noma Kyoto, chef Rene Redzepi plants ‘seeds’ for the future
The world's best chef is experimenting with the next phase of fine dining at his Kyoto pop-up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 2, 2023
Shizen: Firewood, ferments and finesse in backstreet Shibuya
Chef Yu Kunisue's dual passions of wood-fired cooking and fermented exploration come to delightful fruition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 12, 2023
Dewaya: Sansai cuisine worthy of a pilgrimage
Chef Haruki Sato prizes the freshest ingredients, even if that means digging them up in the dead of winter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2023
L'Effervescence chef Shinobu Namae: The making of an 'icon'
The man who runs Tokyo's chic L'Effervescence restaurant reflects on his career from washing dishes to Michelin-star meals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Feb 5, 2023
Yoichi Sagra: Feasting in Hokkaido wine country
Despite its occasionally inhospitable climate, Hokkaido is home to superb wines — as well as cuisine more than worthy of those vintages.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jan 25, 2023
Japan on a plate: Our food critic reveals his favorite spots
Food writer Robbie Swinnerton has been covering Tokyo’s culinary scene for decades, so for this week’s episode we asked him to pick out a few standout meals from last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 22, 2023
Eureka moments abound at sake sommelier Marie Chiba’s new bar
The acclaimed nihonshu maven hasn't lost a step — in fact, she might be better than ever before.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jan 15, 2023
L’Atelier de Noto: Peninsular cuisine with a French accent
Located about two hours from tourist-heavy Kanazawa, this modern French restaurant tucked away in tranquil Wajima takes full advantage of the Noto Peninsula's bounty of land and sea.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 31, 2022
With borders reopened, Tokyo dining closed 2022 on a welcome high
For all the ups and downs of 2022, Tokyo's culinary scene seems poised for a big year in 2023.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 25, 2022
A year in, Gucci Osteria is Ginza’s sharpest Italian
Chef Antonio Iacovelli's Italian cuisine wins hearts, minds and a Michelin star.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 4, 2022
At Akai, tranquil dining without distractions
Minutes from the sacred island of Miyajima, chef Kenji Akai's cuisine showcases its own divine simplicity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 27, 2022
Noma sets sights on Kyoto, and diners bite in droves
The acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant's second extended residence in Japan shifts to the country's ancient capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Nov 6, 2022
Dining from forest and field at Niigata's Satoyama Jujo
The Sanaburi dining room in Minamiuonuma serves dishes so fresh they come straight from the soil — sometimes literally.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 16, 2022
From ‘gastrobar’ origins, Tinc Gana elevates modern Spanish cuisine
Chef Jerome Quilbeuf prefers to start each meal with “the finest cured ham in the world.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Oct 2, 2022
At Don Bravo, creativity and wood-fired pizzas draw diners from afar
Far from the epicurean districts of Tokyo, this Chofu spot still manages to attract gourmands with omakase (chef's choice) pizza and much more.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 18, 2022
Tokyo's new sushi shops keep focus on quality but pare back on frills
Dreaming of sushi? Having nightmares about the bill? Believe it or not, you can find a middle ground.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Sep 4, 2022
The old capital’s cuisine — redefined in Kamakura
Chef Yasunori Kitajima draws on almost two decades in top Kyoto kitchens to create a cuisine reflecting his own background in historic Kamakura.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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