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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
Jan 5, 2007
Kamakura: slow food on the coast
We spent this new year, as is our custom, in Kamakura. We helped to toll the joya-no-kane bell at our favorite hillside temple. At a little shrine under a steep, wooded cliff, we made our ritual hatsumode obeisances. And then, needless to say, we feasted in auspicious style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 15, 2006
Reminiscing on a year at the table
The solstice is upon us, and the holiday season is closing in fast. But before we take refuge under the mistletoe and give ourselves over to the usual Yuletide overindulgence, we must first clear the clutter from the Food File desk and tidy up all the loose ends.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 10, 2006
Guidance from a master brewer
THE BOOK OF SAKE: A Connoisseur's Guide, by Philip Harper. Kodansha International, 2006, 96 pp., 2,940 yen (cloth) How the global culinary pendulum does swing. It was not so long ago that drinking sake was considered as exotic, or even as ill advised, as eating raw fish seasoned with green horseradish....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 1, 2006
High-end dining: two of our best
Change and entropy, as the philosophers might say, are the only constants. Nowhere is that more evident than in this mighty metropolis and its ever-evolving restaurant scene. New places open, others fade away, but the very best understand how to keep moving with the times.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 1, 2006
New York Grill and Les Saisons: two of our best
Change and entropy, as the philosophers might say, are the only constants. Nowhere is that more evident than in this mighty metropolis and its ever-evolving restaurant scene. New places open, others fade away, but the very best understand how to keep moving with the times.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 17, 2006
High tea and cocktails
The ghosts of Tokyo past may still haunt the inner recesses of Kagurazaka, but increasingly they are being hemmed in by the encroaching architecture of the brash modern city. As with Sakura Sakura, though, a small but growing number of the surviving prewar low-rise, timber houses are being given a new...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2006
Sakura Sakura: After dark in the alleys of Kagurazaka
NOTE: Sakura Sakura is no longer in business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 3, 2006
Citabria: Fine dining that really takes flight
Special people deserve special occasions. But finding exactly the right place for that celebratory dinner is easier said than done -- especially when your criteria are as stringent as ours.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 20, 2006
Lohotoi: Not your dime-a-dozen dim sum
We are always on the prowl for good dim sum. We also keep our ears pinned back for reports of fine Chinese cooking in that elusive middle ground that is neither fancy nor funky. So, on hearing enthusiastic reports of a good Hong Kong-style restaurant offering both, it didn't take us long to investigate....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 6, 2006
Go with the grain at Kokoromai
Shinmai-nyuka -- the new rice is in stock. Far more than just a statement of fact, it's a cry of exultation that has echoed down the centuries. Last autumn's rice is old and tired; this year's newly harvested grain is fresh and full of flavor. Is that not cause for celebration?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 29, 2006
Finding the finest foods from afar
Tokyo is not just one of the world's great restaurant cities, it's equally good for those who prefer to cook at home. Name the country or cuisine: Chances are you can find whatever ingredients you need, if not at your local supermarket, then certainly without having to leave the metropolis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 15, 2006
Ristorante Lastricato: Such quality, such flavor. Bellissimo!
Lastricato lies on the main street of Ushigome, a quiet neighborhood not far from Kagurazaka but quite distinct in character. At first glance, it looks typical of the many mid-range little ristoranti that dot the city these days. Compact but not cramped, chic but not self-conscious, it is worth dressing...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 1, 2006
Bongout Noh: A sutando where standards are high
The boom in tachi-nomi (drinking while standing) bars continues unabated. At the traditional end of the spectrum are the rough-and-ready sake and shochu pubs. At the other extreme are more genteel establishments that prefer to call themselves sutando bars. The principles are the same -- no chairs; pay...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 18, 2006
Roamin' for ramen: five favorites
Ramen. It's one of the few cuisines that the Food File rarely writes about. Why? Because just about everyone in Japan is an expert on the subject. Everyone has their own favorite noodle joints, as often as not in obscure suburban locations and with hourlong queues outside. And most are fiercely vocal...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 4, 2006
South of the border in 'Nakame'
Naka-Meguro's days as a hip, artsy enclave have long been numbered. The area isgentrifying fast, especially down by the river and uptoward Daikanyama. But venture along the slow-moving, old-school shopping street that forms the spiritual axis of 'Nakame' (as the locals like to call it) and you can still...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 21, 2006
Unagi slips into a more refined mode
The dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and panting hard on their heels comes the annual unagi feeding frenzy. Across the length and breadth of the country, vast numbers of slithering eels will be slaughtered, filleted, broiled and basted, all in the name of hallowed tradition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 7, 2006
Finding Africa in the heart of Japan
We explored the Africa Remix exhibition at the Mori Art Museum the other day and came back buzzing with inspiration, hungry for more of the vibrant cultures and flavors of that great continent. There aren't a lot of options here in Tokyo, but at least there's Calabash.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 30, 2006
Kurkku Kitchen: Great food, naturally
Natural farming, environmental sustainability, conscious lifestyles -- these are the mantras of the dyed-in-the-wool, back-to-the-earth ecological movement. They're also becoming buzzwords at Tokyo restaurants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 16, 2006
Ducasse brings young talent to Japan
As one of the world's top chefs, Alain Ducasse needs little introduction. Over the past two decades, few people have done more to develop and spread the gospel of French haute cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 2, 2006
Turkish Kitchen Izmir: Meze and much more
Of Turkey's three largest cities, Istanbul certainly needs no introduction, and neither does Ankara, the capital and seat of government, in the heart of Anatolia. The bustling Aegean port of Izmir, however, remains more of an unknown quantity, except to those fortunate enough to have explored that beautiful...
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.
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.
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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