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November 21, 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
Jan 26, 2019
Five Japanese restaurants on the shortlist for new culinary award
A legendary Kyoto restaurant serving kaiseki, Japan's exquisite multicourse haute cuisine. A traditional grilled-eel specialist in Tokyo with roots dating to the days of the shoguns. An irreverent fast-food joint where fish burgers rule. The newly opened offshoot of one of Scandinavia's most innovative...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 19, 2019
Ginza Kagari Honten: The tori paitan classic is reborn
Two words: "tori paitan." The smooth, satisfying soup derived from simmering chicken bones and carcasses long and slow to create a thick, umami-rich broth. Served with ramen and a few choice toppings, it makes for one of the finest bowls of noodles you can find. Just ask anyone who ever supped at Kagari....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 19, 2019
Lakan-ka: Light, wholesome and not a speck of sugar added
From the outside, you might take Lakan-ka for just another of the smart-casual cafe-dining establishments that proliferate on the Aoyama-Jingumae side of town. But behind the sleek, modern facade with its pet-friendly terrace, this new arrival is doing things a bit differently.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 5, 2019
Men Chirashi: Udon gets the hip, creative treatment
After all the holiday overindulgence, what better way to start a new year than with noodles? They're simple, wholesome, filling and, best of all, cheap. And none more so than the long, white, chunky, chewy wheat noodles known as Sanuki udon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 5, 2019
Torioka: High-quality yakitori that's accessible ... for now
When it comes to premium yakitori, nowhere does it better than grillmaster supreme Yoshiteru Ikegawa's brilliant Torishiki. No place is harder to reserve, either. Which is why it was such good news when Torioka, his new offshoot, opened last autumn.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 29, 2018
Tokyo dining: So many great new options in 2018
The sands of time are rapidly running out on 2018. But before the Year of the Boar comes trotting into view, there's still a chance to pause, look back and appreciate some of the highlights and new arrivals from the past 12 months — and to wish all Japan Times readers good eating and good health in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 15, 2018
Nihonryori RyuGin: New address for a Tokyo classic
Even in Tokyo, a city that relentlessly reinvents itself, change never comes easy, no matter how celebrated a restaurant may be. The bigger the name, the greater the expectations, and few have larger reputations than Nihonryori RyuGin.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 15, 2018
Konjiki Hototogisu: Ramen's new star rises in Shinjuku
Konjiki Hototogisu is exactly the kind of new-wave noodle counter that old-school ramen grinches love to hate. It's squeaky clean and has a rustic wooden frontage. The delicate noodles are handmade in-house. The soups are light, complex and deep, with none of that porky tonkotsu greasiness. And then...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 1, 2018
Wana Tedome: Partake in a feast on the wild side
Wana Tedome doesn't mess with any ordinary meat. "Deer, not cow. Boar, not pig," the illuminated street-level sign outside proclaims in Japanese. "Grilled venison, grilled boar and grilled pheasant."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 1, 2018
Lature: Wildfowl and game meat worthy of a Michelin star
As you head to your table at Lature, don't be surprised if you spot your dinner curled up on the counter by the kitchen. It might be a mandarin duck, a mallard or a pheasant from Okinawa, resplendent in its plumage. At this time of year especially, gibiers (game birds and animals) play a central role...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2018
Yuu: Relaxed kappō dining worth crossing town for
It is not hard to track down the very best of Tokyo's high-end Japanese restaurants. After all, there are plenty of guides and websites to point you on your way. At street level, too, it's easy to locate good noodle joints, yakitori counters or mom and pop diners. Navigating the middle ground, though,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2018
Ibrew Shinbashi: Craft beer fits fine in salaryman territory
The cheap, cheerful, crowded, smoke-patinated dives that populate the lower floors of Shinbashi's Ekimae Building are an enduring time capsule of old-school, after-work salaryman drinking culture. Ibrew's craft beer pub has only been open there for a year, but its no-frills, low-budget approach makes...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 3, 2018
Vaner: Norwegian-style sourdough rises in Yanaka
The old-school, low-rise district of Yanaka boasts tree-lined streets, temples aplenty, fresh air and a sense of connection with Tokyo's past that has long been paved over elsewhere. What it lacks — and this is a plus, not a minus — is a subway station, with the accompanying bright lights and commercial...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 3, 2018
Toridoki: Old-school yakitori near new Toyosu market
There are plenty of reasons to mourn the closure of Tsukiji's legendary wholesale market, and many more to bemoan its successor in Toyosu. Not least is the dearth of good, established restaurants out on that sterile landfill location.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 20, 2018
Iyaiya Sanbai: At the contemporary edge of izakaya
A generation back, the average izakaya tavern was noisy, cheap, smoky and the clientele overwhelmingly male. There would usually be one brand of beer; two choices of sake, warmed or room temperature; and food that ranged from reliable to rough and ready.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 20, 2018
PST Roppongi: Pizza Studio Tamaki's natural evolution
PST: The large neon letters shining in the evening gloom spell out a very familiar welcome. And once you're inside, so do the sizzling pizzas with their rough-formed, carbon-flecked rims being pulled from the squat, no-nonsense, gunmetal-black, wood-fired oven. Anyone who has eaten at the original Pizza...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 6, 2018
Los Tacos Azules: Traditional tacos defying preconceptions
Marco Garcia is a man with a mission that is at once modest and radical. At Los Tacos Azules, his bright, cheerful little restaurant, his aim is simply to serve the staple food of his homeland, Mexico. But along the way, he is likely to blow a few minds, palates and preconceptions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kamakura Restaurants
Sep 29, 2018
Kishin Kamakura: Giving breakfast its proper due
For most of us, the first meal of the day is also the fastest, a quick bite or perhaps just some java on the run. But why the hurry? Slow down, breathe, take your time, reward yourself. This is a good half of the pleasure of getting to break your morning fast at Kishin.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kamakura Restaurants
Sep 29, 2018
Oxymoron Komachi: Piquant curry favored by the locals
In a tourist town, it pays to know where to eat before you get there. Pro tip: The best places are usually off the main drag. Look where the locals are lining up; the queue outside Oxymoron in Kamakura is always one of the longest.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 15, 2018
Tandoor Bar Kamalpur: Comfortable as your local izakaya
No prizes for guessing what's on the menu at Tandoor Bar Kamalpur. The familiar, beguiling aromas that greet your nostrils as you arrive are much the same as you'd expect at any other Indian eatery in Tokyo — or anywhere else in the world, for that matter.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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.
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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