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November 22, 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
Feb 6, 2009
A gastronomic treat
Chef alert! The big guns of global gastronomy are coming to town. The occasion is a convocation being held next week grandly titled "Tokyo Taste — the World Summit of Gastronomy 2009."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 6, 2009
Cujorl: Artistic cooking in an American style
The Food File has a new favorite restaurant — with the emphasis firmly on "new." Cujorl has been open barely a month now, and already we've been back three times.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 23, 2009
The Majestic: Tasty dips for a Majestic Tet
From Halong Bay to the Mekong Delta, the flowers, fireworks and festive clothes are being readied: Soon the fun and feasting will begin. China and its vast diaspora may make the most noise at Lunar New Year, but it's no less of a big deal in Vietnam.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 9, 2009
Tokyo's miso soup: quality, variety and style
Traditionally in Japan, miso shiru soup represented the taste of home cooking. Each family would have its own recipes, prepared using local or homemade miso but served up with favorite combinations of ingredients. Vegetables, seafood, mushrooms, tofu, seaweed and even small quantities of meat all find...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 9, 2009
A mecca for miso out in Kameido
Crates of champagne were popped open, wine was mulled and sake was sipped. But now the feast days are over, we must rein in the appetite (and the spending, too). It's time to focus on simple, wholesome home cooking to see us through the coldest season: hearty stews and nabe hot pots, rib-sticking casseroles...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 9, 2009
Sano Miso: A mecca for miso out in Kameido
Crates of champagne were popped open, wine was mulled and sake was sipped. But now the feast days are over, we must rein in the appetite (and the spending, too). It's time to focus on simple, wholesome home cooking to see us through the coldest season: hearty stews and nabe hot pots, rib-sticking casseroles...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2008
Volo Cosi: Northern Tokyo's top- notch Italian
Another year of eating our way around Tokyo draws to its well-fed conclusion. We have dined well in 2008 — we invariably do, of course — with many memorable evenings and lunches spent at the table. Among the highlights was finally making our way to Volo Cosi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 5, 2008
Restaurant & Wine Cellar Davis: What delicacies hide in Takanawa
When Shoko Davis first opened her Wine Cellar more than 10 years ago, it felt like the ultimate neighborhood restaurant. Not just because it ticked all the boxes in terms of food, drink and ambience, but also because it was so far off most people's radar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 21, 2008
Ebisu Yokocho: Bright lights, retro style
Times are tough, money's too tight to mention, the recession is biting and credit is crunching. Red ink is the new black. Doom-and-gloom mongering is back in vogue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 7, 2008
Tateru Yoshino and Sucre Sale: Haute cuisine and the friendly local
The slatted, skewing facade of the new Prias Building may not be the most arresting design in Ginza — the melting-metal, curvilinear De Beers building wins that accolade hands down. But it's enough to make you stop and crane your neck.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2008
Rakushokushu Maru: Modern kaiseki the Maru way
The simple truth has become a global cliche: It is hard to get a bad meal in Tokyo. Whether you're eating humble noodles or a rarefied kaiseki banquet, it's likely to be more than just satisfactory — there's a good chance it will be prepared with flavor and flair.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2008
Sleek and soulless, the new Shunju ain't what it used to be
Since the very early days, we have been fans of the Shunju group. After all, these were the restaurants that pioneered the idea of modern washoku Japanese dining back in the late 1980s. So we were interested to check out the latest branch, dubbed Shunju Yurari (literally "gently floating"), that opened...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 3, 2008
Mikura Ginza Honten: It's Kyoto kaiseki, but not as you know it
[Note: Mikura Ginza Honten has closed.]
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2008
Had enough of the bistro? Then head on to the bouchon
Kagurazaka already has a remarkable concentration of French bistros, brasseries, wine bars, and at least one authentic Breton creperie. Since last September we have been able to add to that list a full-fledged bouchon, a bistro-style restaurant specializing in the distinctive cuisine of Lyon, the region...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2008
Maison de la Bourgogne: A fine bistro life in Kagurazaka
At long last it's safe to come out from under the air conditioning. The heat has finally broken, our appetites have perked up, and there are some long, balmy evenings ahead — perfect for some leisurely outdoor dining.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2008
Aalawi: Found: Tokyo's little Jamaica
We'd been planning on a little beach action last weekend, but the weather weirdness put paid to that notion. No monsoon moping for us, though: We struggled through the deluge down to Aalawi, a laid-back corner of Ebisu that is forever Caribbean.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2008
A healthy pick-me-up at the train station
What is the secret to surviving the heat of a Tokyo summer? For some it's ice cream or beer. Traditionalists might say broiled eel or tokoroten jelly. But there are a growing number of people for whom the answer is vinegar; not any old acetic acid, but the molasses-black vinegar known as kurozu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2008
Heading to the pubs for beer and bangers
For lovers of good beer, the major event of the spring was the opening of the Nakameguro Taproom. No ordinary pub, Taproom is the Tokyo outlet for Baird beers, the craft brewery in Shizuoka Prefecture that many people — and the Food File, too — rate among the best in the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2008
Everything old is new again
Too often — in this column, just as in life — we have to say goodbye. So it's been a rare pleasure this year to welcome back a couple of longtime favorites that have been sorely missed during their time away.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 1, 2008
Suzuran: Chilling with chuka soba
Japan's infatuation with ramen can seem bewildering to the uninitiated. When you see lines around the block outside nondescript noodle joints in remote locations, with waits of up to an hour, it's hard not think the obsession is verging on the pathological.
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.
Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
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.
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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