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April 03, 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
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...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 19, 2006
Beacon: Power dining that shines
The stock market's up and ditto consumer spending. Real estate is rebounding and there's even talk of another bubble. No surprise then that we've been seeing plenty of upmarket restaurants opening in recent months. Better still, some of our favorite restaurateurs are getting into the action.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 5, 2006
Ukai Toriyama: Time to head for the hills
Sunlight filters through fresh young foliage, dappling mossy thatched roofs. On the hills above, the wind sighs through stands of pine. In the background, birdsong and the constant trickling of a mountain stream; outside our wood-framed window, blossom floats on the surface of a placid pond. Spring has...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 21, 2006
L'Artemis: Panache and great value on a plate
Picture this. A substantial fillet of salmon fills the center of the plate, its flesh glinting a delicate pink and adorned with a dab of sour cream and a frond of dill. To one side a small mound of lightly steamed spring vegetables: young peas still in their pods; nanohana (rape greens); a thin wedge...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 7, 2006
Ryuan, Kaikaiya: izakaya mood swings
We were in the mood for eating Japanese -- nothing too fancy, but somewhere modern, with a sense of style, to match the elevated state engendered by strolling under the Meguro-gawa blossoms. We couldn't get into our favorite watering holes alongside the river. So we decided to try our luck at Ryuan [formerly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 17, 2006
It's time to get healthy
The mirror does not lie, and nor do the bathroom scales. All that rich, stick-to-the-ribs winter food has inevitably stuck to the waistline too, leaving us sluggish and out of balance. So now, with the ume (plum) in bloom and spring nigh, it seems like the right moment to take stock, lighten up the diet and shed a few kilos. Time to get back in balance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 3, 2006
Spice with style on the side
[NOTE: Poivrier has closed.]
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2006
Casa Vecchia: Good local fare with uncommon flair
A trattoria is by definition a neighborhood institution, usually a small, family-run affair with modest prices and few pretensions, serving down-home cooking for a local clientele. Casa Vecchia fits that description perfectly.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 10, 2006
Shaping 'neo-classic' cuisine
It is a measure of Tokyo's hidden depths that many of its top restaurants remain so little known, at least among the city's expatriate population. That is certainly the case with L'Osier. Founded in 1973, it established its heavyweight reputation under French master chef Jacques Borie, winning a devoted...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2006
Kuro-hitsuji: Ghengis Khan gets hip
Until recently, the distinctive style of cooking mutton known as jingisukan -- the Japanese transliteration of the name of a well known Mongolian butcher -- was thought far too uncouth to be considered seriously. So how did this coarse, blue-collar dish, so long a staple of smoky grills in the godless...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2006
Cicada: That Mediterranean buzz
Readers of this column over the past seven years will be well aware of our abiding love of the food and wine of the western Mediterranean. Anyone who has eaten his or her way around Spain will understand. From the seafood of Galicia and the Basque coast to the sherry, tapas and superb hams of Andalucia,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2006
Kanda Matsuya: pick your century of soba
New Year in Japan brings with it all manner of ritual and circumstance. Observing the first sunrise. The all-important hatsumode shrine visit. Receiving (and assessing) nenga greetings. Perhaps even the sipping of otoso, the medicinal-tasting sake that guarantees health throughout the next 12 months....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 16, 2005
A few more before we go
It's always the same story: So many restaurants, so much great food, so little time. The Food File never has enough columns in a year to feature all of the excellent places we've enjoyed over the past 12 months. So, quickly, before we get sidetracked on pouring the mulled wine and carving the turkey,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 9, 2005
Standing firm for tradition
Akitaya is no gourmet dining destination. The food is basic, the sake cheap. Clouds of oily smoke billow out from a blackened, grease-encrusted charcoal grill onto the sidewalk, where customers huddle around tables fashioned from upturned beer crates.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 2, 2005
Gordon Ramsay at Conrad Tokyo: Haute cuisine with altitude
Aside from some road-laying and cosmetic work, the bristling high-rises of the Shiodome complex are complete. It's a brutal, soulless landscape on an inhuman scale. There's only one thing that can tempt us along those sterile walkways and mazelike underpasses: the promise of fine dining. And no one does...
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.
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.
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.
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, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
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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