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July 17, 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
Mar 14, 2003
Cafe Eight: Vegetarianism for all
"Eat Your Vegetables." This is not your mother speaking, admonishing you at age 5 to clear your plate. It is the cheerful philosophy -- think of it as an invitation, not a command -- that underpins Cafe Eight, perhaps our favorite vegetarian restaurant in all of eastern Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 7, 2003
A slice of Spain to liven up Lent
Every year when carnival time rolls around, it's the Rio samba parade that hogs the limelight, along with Mardi Gras in New Orleans and similar festivities all around the Caribbean. But they still know how to celebrate the start of the Lenten season over there in Old Europe too. After all, that's where...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2003
Seafood as fresh as it gets
One of the primary pleasures of any visit to Hokkaido is the food. The wide open lowlands are ideal for agriculture and livestock ranching, while hunters find the unspoiled mountainous hinterlands a rich source of game -- wild boar, deer and migrating fowl -- along with the wild mushrooms and herbs that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 28, 2003
Maruichi: Bettering the bistro
Maruichi is so intimate and unpretentious that it has chosen to call itself a bistro. But that gives the wrong impression entirely. You will find no red checkered tablecloths here, no tourist posters, Pernod ads or guttering candles jammed into empty wine bottles. Instead it espouses a quiet simplicity...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 21, 2003
Sasano: A hidden gem of an izakaya
It's always a pleasure to revisit a favorite haunt after a gap of a couple of years, and even more so to discover that it's just as good as ever. In the case of Sasano, that doesn't just mean premium sake and fine quality provender -- after all, those are the sine qua non of any self-respecting izakaya...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 14, 2003
Take your lover to Hevin and back
What is it about Japan and chocolate and Feb. 14? For the past two weeks and climaxing today, the entire nation -- or at least the female half of it -- has been engulfed in the annual chocomania. And, if anything, this year the Valentine's Day frenzy has reached new heights.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 7, 2003
Sonamu: Fare to put some hair on your chest
You think it's been cold here this winter? You should try spending some time over on the Korean Peninsula. Those bitter gales from Siberia take no prisoners. Not to worry -- as long as you're somewhere with under-floor ondol heating and plenty of that chili-laden food, you'll survive. You may even enjoy...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 31, 2003
Coca Restaurant: Fun food in funky retro style
There is precious little architecture left in central Tokyo these days that has any history attached to it. So when restaurants want to imbue their premises with a period feel, mostly they just have to fake it. The results can range from ersatz Edo-style castles to flimsy, film-set backdrops glorifying...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 24, 2003
Shilingol: From the Mongol steppes to Sugamo
A chill gale of change is gusting through the sumo world, all the way from Central Asia. The demise of the Takanohana era does not, of course, mean we will stop eating chanko nabe. However, in honor of the incipient arrival of the Asashoryu dynasty, we felt impelled to set off in search of Shilingol,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 17, 2003
Izayoi: Fine fowl deeds in Azabu-Juban
The idea of upmarket yakitori -- presenting premium-quality charcoal-broiled chicken in suave settings, often with fine wine and other foreign influences -- is taken for granted in Tokyo these days. But nowhere else in the city is this venerable concept -- the skewering and grilling of fowl -- translated...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 10, 2003
Kanda's shrine to the humble soba noodle
During this most auspicious of Japanese seasons, it seems as if just about every kind of food is imbued with momentous import. From the mochi in the o-zoni soup with which the New Year's morning is greeted to the array of colorful but austere o-sechi ryori tidbits, many of these dishes are appreciated...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 3, 2003
Chic eats for the months ahead
It's prognostication time again and, just like Janus (after whom this month is, after all, named), the Food File likes to look ahead by surveying all that lies behind.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 27, 2002
Let us raise a toast to six of the best in 2002
Just as, after a leisurely banquet, conversation inevitably turns to storytelling and reminiscing, in much the same vein we like to devote our final column of the year to the highlights of the past 12 months. During the course of 2002, we have cast our spotlight on more than 60 restaurants, bars and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 20, 2002
Vin Picoeur: Le BBQ Franco-Japonais
'Tis the season to be merry, but too many office parties, bonenkai drink fests and lavish yearend dining can quickly take their toll. In the face of hectic schedules and chronic overindulgence, the only remedy is to slow down and concentrate on the fundamentals -- good, satisfying food; fine wine; and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 13, 2002
Time to say arrivederci to the old-school cucina
Out with the old and in with the new. That's the prevailing state of the game in Tokyo's restless, ever-changing restaurant scene. Sometimes this can be exhilarating, as with the brilliant refurbishment of the top floors of the My City building in Shinjuku. Sometimes, though, the process can feel downright...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 6, 2002
New washoku comes of age
Trends are only ever truly visible in retrospect, but all the indications are that 2002 will be viewed as the year in which washoku -- Japan's native, homegrown food -- finally made its big comeback.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 24, 2002
Old world brews for a new century
Belgians makes the finest, most complex beers in the world. There can be little argument about that. They've been perfecting the craft -- many would call it an art -- for centuries. But just because these brews have a tradition dating back to the era of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, that doesn't mean they...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2002
Nibblin', sippin' and slurpin'
Shi-an occupies that comfortable middle-ground between the two extremes of kaiseki formal and izakaya casual. It's not unique and the food is not particularly unusual, but its virtues -- quality seasonal ingredients; a deft touch in the kitchen; competent service; and an unobtrusive, stylish setting...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 10, 2002
Restaurant Kinoshita: New digs, but same culinary magic
When the news came through this summer that one of our favorite chefs, Kazuhiko Kinoshita, was closing his eponymous restaurant in Hatsudai and moving to fresh pastures, it came as no surprise to us. In fact the move was well overdue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 3, 2002
We'll have 'the usual'
Comme d'habitude. As any linguist knows, that's French for "as usual." As the name of a restaurant, it conjures up images of a run-of-the-mill bistro with standard-issue checkered tablecloths. But the name is both modest and misleading, because Comme d'habitude in Kami-Meguro stands head and shoulders...
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
Trump makes his grand RNC entrance with a bandaged ear and a VP pick
Former U.S. President Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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