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November 23, 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 / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2020
Rise & Win: A victory for beer lovers (and sustainability)
Rise & Win beer is brewed in the zero-waste town of Kamikatsu, and that philosophy is built into the foundation of its brewery and Tokyo taproom.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2020
Hasegawa Saketen Gransta: A sake lover's boon beneath Tokyo Station
Hasegawa Saketen's reborn Tokyo Station branch is larger, sleeker and even better stocked. It even boasts a new in-house sake microbrewery.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 29, 2020
Elegies and excitement in Tokyo’s dining landscape
Tokyo Food File wraps up summer 2020 with a look at how Tokyo's dining scene is shaping up in Year One of COVID-19.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 19, 2020
Episode 61: Tough times for Tokyo, the world's dining capital
With more Michelin stars than any other city in the world, Tokyo is something of a dining mecca. But in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has turned Tokyo's restaurant and hospitality industry on its head.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2020
Omnipollos Tokyo: A bold, boozy newcomer to the craft beer scene
Omnipollo is no run-of-the-mill craft beer company, and its first Japanese outpost, Omnipollos Tokyo, lives up to the brand's quirky reputation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2020
Chef Kyohei Nishi spreads his wings at Neki
Tokyo's Kabutocho neighborhood is undergoing a much-needed revitalization, and no development is more exciting and welcome than Neki.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 1, 2020
Gracia: Modern Spanish gastrobar dining in Hiroo
At gastrobar Gracia, chef Jerome Quilbeuf is serving up top-notch Catalan cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 1, 2020
Berg: A classic Shinjuku pit stop, 30 years on
There was already a lot to celebrate about cafe-bar Berg. Now there's two more: Its 30th birthday and new nonsmoking status.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 18, 2020
Kitade Shokudo: ‘Tokyo-Mex’ tacos, with Brooklyn flair
Inspired by the handmade tortillas he tasted in New York, owner Shigeo Kitade recreated his favorite tacos with all-Japanese ingredients.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 18, 2020
Ming-Teng Hao Hao: Cheerful desserts meet Chinatown kitsch
You've got to love a place whose name means “tomorrow will be good.” And if you get one of its Taiwanese-style puddings, odds are so will today.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 4, 2020
Mikkeller Kanda: A killer beer-burger combination
With 12 taps of craft beer, premium burgers and funky environs, Mikkeller Kanda is a welcome addition to Tokyo's dining scene.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 4, 2020
Ayu Ramen Plus: No-frills noodles in central Tokyo
One welcome surprise in the new Toranomon Yokocho is an offshoot of Ayu Ramen, still offering its no-frills sides and namesake noodles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 20, 2020
Toranomon Yokocho: Tokyo’s hottest restaurants, reimagined
Toranomon Yokocho is the latest scrubbed-up yokochu014d to hit Tokyo, offering diners a la carte options from branches of high-end restaurants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 6, 2020
Tokyo’s favorite restaurants ease out of the state of emergency
This could be the perfect time to (safely) support your favorite operations, before they get busy again.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 6, 2020
Fakalo Pizza Gallery: New digs, same heartfelt pizzas
Fakalo Pizza Gallery remains a labor-of-love operation with a half-dozen varieties each of red (tomato) and white (cheese) on the menu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2020
Ode gets playful with three new takeout brands
Craving classic bistro fare, loaded sandwiches or good patisserie? You're in luck: Yusuke Namai's new menu covers all those bases (and more).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2020
Specialty ramen straight from the masters
Ramen shops aren't well suited to COVID times. Fortunately, some top Tokyo ramen specialists have delivery solutions that spare us from cup noodles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 2, 2020
Japan’s top artisan bakeries are delivering from dough to door
Japan is blessed with a growing number of artisan bakeries around the city that can fill that pain de campagne-sized hole in our diets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2020
Locale and Eatrip offer takeout and veggie boxes to support their suppliers
COVID-19 implications are reverberating up and down the food chain, and those with strong links to the restaurants they supply are definitely feeling the effects. Several Tokyo chefs are taking steps to protect their valued farmers, fishermen and other food producers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2020
In the face of COVID-19, Narisawa gets busy
Restaurant Narisawa is still operating a full lunch and dinner service, albeit with generous table spacing and curtailed evening hours. But he has also formulated various menu iterations for takeout and home delivery ranging from u00a515,000 to a hefty u00a535,000 a head.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Saitama court bans demonstrations over anti-Kurd hate speech
Kurdish people in Japan in 2015. A court injunction has banned acts that defame the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association and are disrespectful, such as putting up banner flags or handing out fliers with hate speech like “Refugees should go back to their home countries.”
China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals
Beijing Daxing International Airport
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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