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April 04, 2025
 

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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
Mar 18, 2016
Craftale: A young, talented chef takes flight among Nakameguro's cherry trees
There's a new generation of chefs emerging in Tokyo. They're young, innovative, up-to-the-minute and self-assured, and they're starting to make waves. Most are still flying under the radar. In the case of Shinya Otsuchihashi and his brilliant new restaurant, Craftale, things are not going to stay that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 18, 2016
Henry's Burger: 100 percent wagyu, no filler
The gourmet burger market in Tokyo is an increasingly crowded field. With so many new arrivals, from small, passionate independents to slick, well-funded international operations, it's hard for new places to stand out. One that has carved out a tiny but distinct niche is Henry's Burger, which opened...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 12, 2016
Pierre Gagnaire: 'We must accept the destiny that life imposes'
French chef on modern gastronomy, food culture and mashed potatoes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 4, 2016
Collaborative spirit emerges at Asia's top restaurant awards
Just about everyone loves stars, lists and rankings, when they relate to what and where we eat — and even more so when they're seasoned with a dash of national pride. And nowhere is this more evident than at the announcement ceremony for the annual Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 4, 2016
Sushi Tokami: Rare fish and red rice in a legendary basement
The road to becoming a top sushi chef is notoriously long and winding. Just ask Hiroyuki Sato. His discreet little 10-seater restaurant, Sushi Tokami, is only three years old and Sato already ranks among the best sushi chefs in the city. But he had to take a circuitous route to get there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 4, 2016
Rokurinsha Haneda Airport: Exit Japan with some superlative noodles inside you
Check in, pass straight through immigration, take a left turn and look for people with their heads bent over noodle bowls. You have arrived at Rokurinsha.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 26, 2016
Tokyo eats the Amazon with Brazil's Alex Atala
It's a long way from the Amazon rain forest to downtown Tokyo, and even further when it comes to food — as diners discovered at two events organized by the Brazilian Embassy earlier this month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 19, 2016
Ranjatai: Inventive yakitori in the backstreets of Jinbocho
Chicken and charcoal are a classic combination: Morsels of meat carefully skewered and cooked over glowing coals until they're tender, juicy and golden brown. Good yakitori is always a pleasure. At its very best it's worth crossing the city for. And Ranjatai's certainly belongs in that category.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 19, 2016
Pappon Kitchen: Shibuya's tiniest Thai diner wields huge flavors
It's remarkable what a good chef can do with a single burner, a rice cooker and plenty of prep. Take a look at the countless street-food artisans across Asia. Or, much closer to home, just drop into Pappon Kitchen and observe a masterclass in compact cooking.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 5, 2016
Craft Beer Market Koenji: A refuge for beer lovers with 30 local brews on tap
Sometimes you just want to hunker down somewhere simple. You're not looking for anything cutting-edge or fancy, just a place where the welcome is warm and the food is good, plentiful and satisfying — and ditto the beer. If you're anywhere near the Koenji neighborhood just west of Shinjuku, there is...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 5, 2016
Honke Ponga: Korea's healthy answer to 'yakiniku'
Can anything be more enjoyable than sitting around a shichirin (traditional charcoal burner) and cooking your own dinner — especially in the coldest season? Honke Ponga, a friendly South Korean grill just steps away from Meguro Station, does its best to answer that in the affirmative by adding a light,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2016
Otako: A 93-year-old 'oden' joint that still keeps its hot pot simmering
On a bitterly cold winter evening few sights are more welcoming than the cheerful glow of the large red lanterns that hang outside traditional restaurants. They promise noodles, eel or yakitori chicken, or advertize an all-purpose izakaya tavern. But the underlying message is the same: Here you will...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 22, 2016
Bao: Mongolian comfort food at a cheerful little hole-in-the-wall
Comfort food comes in many forms — as many as there are countries and cultures. In the case of Mongolia, it is likely to look a lot like mutton cooked in a steaming hot pot together with boiled potatoes, cabbage, tofu, shiitake mushrooms and black cloud-ear fungus. That is the kind of hearty sustenance...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 15, 2016
The joy of eating Japan's traditional clay-pot cuisine
It's the autumn of 2013, and dusk falls over the historic Nagatani-en pottery works in the hills above the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture. As the employees finish their shifts and head home, the squat buildings fall quiet and dark — all except the 200-year-old residence at the heart of this artisan complex,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 8, 2016
Matsubara-an Keyaki: Handcrafted soba and traditional snacks high above Harajuku
The holidays are over and the year of the monkey is swinging into action. But it's still very much the season for ritual: You can tell from the flow of worshipers heading into the wooded precincts of Meiji Jingu Shrine. In the face of such solemnity, the brash bustle of nearby Harajuku can feel crass...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 8, 2016
Musashino: Inventive handmade soba with a traditional twist
It is not so unusual to find soba specialists that offer a good selection of other dishes. But Musashino does it the other way around. This small but fully fledged ryōriya (traditional restaurant) offers multicourse kaiseki meals, based around premium wagyu beef shabu-shabu hot pot. But at lunchtime,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 18, 2015
Tokyo's best eating experiences in 2015
Another great year for dining out draws to a close. But before the bōnenkai (forget-the-year parties) erase the 2015 hard drives for good, let's take another look at some of the highlights of the past 12 months.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 4, 2015
Hugo Desnoyer: Has Paris's best butcher crafted Tokyo's best tartare?
There's a curious ritual that just about everyone follows before settling into dinner at Hugo Desnoyer. Once you've been shown to your seat upstairs and ordered drinks, you are encouraged to meet your main course.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 4, 2015
Pinsa de Roma: Pizza's rectangular ancestors come to Harajuku
Another fast-food pizza outlet — just what Harajuku needs. Don't jump to conclusions too fast though, Pinsa de Roma is different. First, as you can tell from the name, it serves pinsa, the original oven-baked flat bread made for centuries in Rome long before the name "pizza" was coined and Naples got...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 20, 2015
Salmon & Trout: Delectably eclectic free-form dining
Three things you need to know before seeking out Salmon & Trout: It's a 10-minute walk from the nearest suburban station, both inside and out, it looks as much like a bicycle showroom as it does a restaurant, and rarely — if ever — will the two namesake fish appear on the menu.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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