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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
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 18, 2008
Unagi Akimoto: Tradition beats the summer heat
Squeezed in between towering modern neighbors, Akimoto's traditional low-rise architecture is so self-effacing you barely notice it. From the tiled eaves to the wood-slatted second-floor windows and the sliding door set back from the street, all is inscrutable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 4, 2008
Antica Vineria Giuliano: A slice of Italy in Shirokanedai
There's nothing remotely antique about Antica Vineria Giuliano. It's barely been open a month; you can still smell the paint as you make your way down the stairs. And yet this cozy basement wine bar already exudes the kind of self-assurance that can take other places years to accrue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 20, 2008
Yasaiya Mei: Bespoke veggies in Omotesando
It's been a very long time since we got excited about curry rice. In fact, this is certainly the first time that we've gone on record extolling the virtues of Japan's blanded-down version of the spicy stew that is British India's lasting contribution to the world of gastronomy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 6, 2008
Maru 3-kai: Maru steps up one more floor
Location, location, location. It's the cardinal rule, the holy trinity of real estate, the prerequisite for success in many a trade — and almost an essential for any restaurant. So how come one of Tokyo's most happening little diners is in a part of town that few people would ever consider their first...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2008
Bills: Bites along the Shonan coast
Regular readers of this column will know it doesn't take much to lure us to the Shonan Coast of Kanagawa Prefecture, especially when there's good eating to be done at the end of the journey. And since the spring, there's been very good reason for making that trip: the stylish new restaurant/cafe known...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 2, 2008
In the carnal realm of Sin
[Note: Sin is no longer in business.]
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2008
Kurosawa: Hand-rolled soba — the director's cut
The word tsu (connoisseur) is often bandied around when talking about Japanese cuisine. Originally denoting a general savoir-faire in worldly matters — most especially in the pleasure quarters — it is now widely used for those who know their food and drink.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 4, 2008
Eating, drinking roving, writing
The blossoms have been popping, and ditto the pink champagne. We're not talking about hanami parties in Aoyama Cemetery — they were officially banned this year; nor the exclusive but oh-so-chilly opening party for Sakura Garden, out in the open space behind the Midtown Complex in Roppongi. No, the...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 21, 2008
Shinsuke: A sip of sake in shitamachi
Slowly but surely word is getting out to the rest of the world: Japanese restaurants don't have to be formal, exquisite and jaw-droppingly pricey. Quite the opposite, in fact: Eating out in Tokyo can be casual, friendly, affordable and fun.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 21, 2008
Words from the food wise on finding the best izakaya
The izakaya, of course, is much more than a pub in the Western sense of a drinking establishment. While there will always be plenty of sake and other kinds of inebriants, food is an integral part of the experience — ranging from tried-and-true traditional "comfort cooking" to inventive cuisine with...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 7, 2008
Spain Iberico Bar Mon-Naka: Iberico comes to Monzen-Nakacho
It took a puzzlingly long time for Japan to catch on to the pleasures of the taperia. It should be a perfect fit since, after all, the exquisite Iberian custom of slowly whiling away the evening with tapas and drinks, one dish and one glass at a time, is so close in spirit to the izakaya tradition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 15, 2008
Le Pré Verre: French freres serve up 'bistronomie'
It's always a pleasure to find a new restaurant that doesn't quite fit into any of the comfortable, well-worn categories. That's certainly the case at the excellent Le Pré Verre, which opened last November in the designer-sleek Gyre building on Omotesando-dori.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 1, 2008
Yoshiume: Simmering over a nabe hot pot
The sleet was lashing down, the wind whipping off Tokyo Bay as we trudged the streets of Ningyocho, eastern Nihonbashi, in search of dinner. Appalling conditions, certainly, but worth braving for the down-home charms of an evening at Yoshiume.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 18, 2008
Hallelujah: The fiery flavor of Korean winter
A fter all the holiday feasting, the boozing and carousing, it comes as no little relief to get back to basics. Warming sustenance is what we crave in this coldest of seasons. And few things are more comforting, to body and spirit alike, than the hearty home cooking of the Korean Peninsula.
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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