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November 21, 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
Feb 20, 2021
Freeman Shokudo: Backyard barbecue defies convention
Pitmaster Jeremy Freeman brings “Brooklyn backyard BBQ” to Tokyo — well-spiced and with more than one twist.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 6, 2021
Xie Wang Fu: Auspicious ambience for high-end Chinese dining
The first overseas offshoot of Shanghai's best-known specialist crab restaurant is bringing the crustacean delicacy to Tokyo year-round.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 30, 2021
The Restaurant: Florilege protege gives local Gunma ingredients the high-end treatment
With a focus on local food products, the reborn Shiroiya Hotel has put Gunma Prefecture's capital city back on the culinary map.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 17, 2021
Shoku-Ishinho: Healing cuisine for body and soul
Shoku-Ishinho serves traditional yakuzen cuisine, which incorporates elements of Chinese herbal medicine, in an entirely contemporary aesthetic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 17, 2021
Japan’s foundational ferment takes pride of place at Sano Miso
This preeminent purveyor's Ginza branch stocks 45 varieties of miso which you can sniff and sample with its in-house “misommelier.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 4, 2021
Shuka Nomoto: An intimate toast to 2021
This Ebisu-based izakaya is small, stylish and serves top-notch food — just what we need to carry us through 2021.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2021
Fool Magazine’s latest issue dives deep into the recesses of Japan’s food culture
The publication's mook-sized issue is back with a second printing — get it while you still can.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 26, 2020
Top 5: Food trends our critics want to see Japan embrace in 2021
Eyes (and stomachs) are already turning to 2021. Five of The Japan Times' critics share the dining trends they'd like to see the country embrace.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2020
The pandemic didn’t stop Tokyo’s foodies from dining out in 2020
The capital's restaurant scene saw plenty of culinary highlights that helped bring notes of optimism and positivity to a difficult year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 6, 2020
Ginza Hachigo: Tokyo’s rising ramen star
From word-of-mouth favorite to media darling, this is one of the city's most unusual and excellent bowls, with a compelling backstory to boot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 28, 2020
A genteel craft beer crawl through Kamakura
Being a tourist can be thirsty work, even in the genteel surrounds of Kamakura. Here are six of the former samurai capital's best watering holes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 14, 2020
The Upper: Tokyo’s newest arrival is peak fine dining
Restaurant group Transit General Office has outdone itself in its new space, with a transportive menu devised by Michelin-starred chef Yusuke Takada.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 31, 2020
Shoto Lamp carries on a shining culinary lineage
Nobuhiro Kakinoki may have opened his restaurant during troubled times, but all the essential elements are in his favor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 31, 2020
Sowado: Inscrutable facade conceals upscale izakaya
Tokyo restaurants don't get harder to book than chef Hideaki Sakai's highly anticipated second venue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 24, 2020
Top 5: Tokyo’s best soba restaurants
Soba noodles are Tokyo's original fast food, simple and filling. Whether you prefer them hot or cold, here's five soba shops worth a trek across town.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2020
At Bistro Nemot, a L’Effervescence alum spreads his wings
Norihito Nemoto's upscale bistro fare makes his laid-back restaurant one of the highlights of the still new and vibrant Eat Play Works complex.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2020
Whether in curry or gelato, Kalpasi’s spice blends are aromatic — and intriguing
Curry has been Tokyo's go-to comfort food this summer, and Curry Spice Gelateria Kalpasi's low-key June arrival hit the moment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 3, 2020
Denkushiflori: Den and Florilege collaboration drives Tokyo’s hottest opening
Two of Tokyo's hottest chefs. A menu tethering contemporary Japanese to modern French cuisine. Tokyo has never seen an opening like Denkushiflori.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2020
Sincere Blue makes the case for sustainable seafood
Sincere Blue is Shinsuke Ishii's way of demonstrating that a French restaurant can offer seafood dishes that are sustainable, delicious and affordable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2020
Noodle Stand Tokyo: ‘Ethical ramen’ in a freshly fashionable setting
The new Jingumae Comichi yokochu014d is an alluring space to while away the hours after work or on weekends.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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’

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