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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
Nov 2, 2007
Oden: Japanese for 'soul food'
There's no need to look at the changing leaves to know what season it is; just walk into your nearest 7-Eleven outlet and sniff. Those trays of oden stewing by the checkout are all you need to know that winter is on its way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 19, 2007
Suji's and Bills: Stateside menus go big in Tokyo
Spend too much time wandering down the main Roppongi drag and you start wondering what country you're in. Since Suji's threw open its doors earlier this year, close to the Iikura-Katamachi Crossing, that particular stretch of Gaien-Higashi-dori has started to feel more like Main Street, USA.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 5, 2007
Don Ciccio: Channeling the flavors of Sicily
What distinguishes a trattoria from a full-blown, self-styled ristorante? It's not the decor, the size of the dining room or the proximity of your neighbors' table. Nor is it necessarily the quality of the cooking. We always know we're in trattoria territory when the staff seem to be enjoying themselves...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 21, 2007
Seigetsu: Great balls of cedar promise good sake
It's the constant conundrum we all face when we arrive in a strange city or wander into an unfamiliar neighborhood. Among the profusion of restaurants and bars, how can you tell which ones are any good? One rule of thumb that has stood us in good stead here over the years: keep your eyes peeled for sakabayashi....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 17, 2007
Summertime and the grazing is easy
It's holiday time and the Food File is off for a break, but not before tidying up a few loose ends. This column is a summer miscellany — call it a chop suey (from the Cantonese shap sui, meaning "odds and ends") — on a few of the places we've visited and enjoyed in recent months.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 3, 2007
Sumile: Al fresco dining above the crowds
Shibuya is not the neighborhood that springs to mind most readily when planning a mellow evening of al fresco dining — and certainly not anywhere in the vicinity of brash pedestrian street Center-gai. And yet why not, when the tranquil terrace at Sumile lies just steps away from all that relentless...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 20, 2007
Rak Thai Pheng Roi: Thai 'food stall' keeps it casual
At this time of this year, every day feels like casual Friday. And as the humidity rises and the perspiration drops, simple is the way we like it. That means food that's light and flavorful, preferably with a good spicy kick to it — and strictly no dressing up for dinner.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2007
Eating your way along the coast
The ocean sparkles; the beach beckons; a breeze stirs the appetite. And the Shonan coast — an hour or so south of Tokyo by train — looks mighty appealing, especially the secluded inlets down the peninsula in genteel Hayama. That's where you'll find the Food File.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 15, 2007
Tofuya Ukai: Below the Tower a Garden of Edo
Tofuya Ukai is one of those "only in Japan" experiences. In the heart of the city, minutes from Roppongi and at the very foot of Tokyo Tower, you round a corner and find yourself in front of a samurai-era merchant's residence, its low-slung wooden gateway announced by an imposing white lantern and a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2007
Butagumi: In hog heaven with the pig gang
Gourmet tonkatsu. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, as implausible as haute cuisine hot dogs or Michelin-starred jellied eels. Surely those breaded, deep-fried "cutlets" of pork can be nothing but comfort food: fatty, filling and reassuringly easy on the budget.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2007
Viron: Bread and rosé in Marunouchi
Whatever happened to Tokyo's love affair with the cafe-brasserie? A decade ago, the entire city seemed ready to embrace the Gallic ethos of sipping coffee and nibbling on croissants (or pastis and salade nicoise) while indulging in the leisurely sport of people watching.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2007
Manuel Churrascaria: Portuguese bistro-casual with a grill
Another week, another new building complex. After working our way through Tokyo Midtown, Velviakan in Ginza and the new Shin-Marunouchi Building, we'd had it with the hype and the crowds. Craving simple, honest sustenance in a quiet neighborhood setting, it came as a pleasure to return at last to Manuel...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 20, 2007
Kinsai: Nakame's hip new super kitchen
The three sturdy wooden doors that form the frontage of Kinsai open out onto busy Yamate-dori, a 10-minute walk from Naka-Meguro Station. It's an unromantic location, but that doesn't deter the well-clad clientele who have been filling the place every night since it opened at the beginning of this month....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2007
Kin-no-saru: In any season, a park-side classic
We had it all planned. We'd spend the afternoon in Kichijoji's Inokashira Park, strolling and sitting under the cherry trees, with maybe a dram or two of sake to inspire lofty thoughts, before adjourning for dinner nearby. But we hadn't counted on the weathermen getting their predictions so wrong.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2007
Restaurant Khyber: Subtle spices from the tandoor grill
The tandoor oven has come a long way from its humble roots in northern India and what is now Pakistan. Basic but so effective, its design has remained unchanged for thousands of years: a simple terra-cotta cylinder, maybe a meter high and 25 cm across, surrounded by thick insulation to keep the heat...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2007
Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee: given the museum treatment
The wraps came off the new National Art Center in late January, revealing Kisho Kurokawa's tour de force in all its glory. The sinuous, bulging facade is remarkable enough, but it's the vast atrium inside that undulating skin of celadon-green glass that really stops you in your tracks.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 16, 2007
Fired up for a Chinese celebration
The bunting and decorations are in place. The fatted calf has been slaughtered, the fatted lamb, piglet, chicken and duckling, too. The Chinese New Year is upon us, and close to a third of the world's population is ready to party.
MULTIMEDIA
Feb 2, 2007
No need to shell out for these oysters
No prizes for guessing what's on the menu at Tokyo Oyster Bar. The name is succinct, businesslike, almost generic. You would imagine it to be sleek, perhaps a bit impersonal, and definitely a bit pricey -- after all, that's the image most other oyster bars in the city aspire to. You'd be wrong.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 19, 2007
Ebisu Imaiya So-Honten: Skewered or simmered, rare birds
The evenings are long and dark. Icy winds whip through the streets. Comfort food is called for, and it pays to know where to find it. If we're in Ebisu, as often as not we head straight to Imaiya So-Honten.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 12, 2007
Wine bars you can't afford to miss
Tokyo is awash with wine these days. Any restaurant that wants to be taken seriously -- and, more importantly, has high overheads to cover -- must boast a well-stocked cellar, preferably glass-fronted, carefully illuminated and strategically placed in full view of the dining room.
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 fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
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.
'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.
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.

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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