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February 22, 2025
 

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Melinda Joe

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Melinda Joe
Melinda Joe is an American journalist in Tokyo. A certified wine and sake professional, she writes about Japanese drinks in her Kanpai Culture column for The Japan Times and blogs at tokyodrinkingglass.blogspot.com.
At the new L'Abysse Osaka, Yannick Alleno both pays homage to and casts aside the tradition around Japan's national dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 5, 2025
Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’
Opened in late October, Sushi L'Abysse Osaka is the Michelin-starred chef’s first outpost in Asia.
Gucci’s newest boutique bar is moody, chic and delightfully louche.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 15, 2024
From Florence to Osaka, Gucci’s newest concept bar oozes style
Gucci Giardino Osaka carves out its own identity through a fusion of Italian and Japanese influences set against the backdrop of the city’s fast-paced, urban landscape.
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 30, 2024
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Named for a region of Ethiopia (and not Japan’s kimono-clad performers), Geisha has become the crown jewel of Tokyo’s flourishing specialty coffee scene.
The wellness amenities at Six Senses Kyoto are just the latest example of hotels in Japan bolstering their relaxation offerings to attract guests.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 12, 2024
Can't choose a Kansai hotel? Perhaps a wellness screening will help you decide.
The holistic offerings at Six Senses Kyoto and Four Seasons Osaka are part of a growing wellness travel trend sweeping Japan.
Yoshinobu Kimura is not afraid to break the accepted norms when it comes to devising surprising new sips for Sushi M.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Oct 6, 2024
Sake, coffee and fish bones: Anything goes for Sushi M’s cocktails
Yoshinobu Kimura's experiments with coffee, cocktails and sushi are just one facet of his boundary-pushing philosophy.
At Sushi Kadowaki, a full list of New World wines offers a new way to enjoy a classic Japanese meal.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Sep 1, 2024
To accompany your counter sushi, why not try a New World wine?
Chef Takatoshi Kadowaki isn't afraid to recommend a California wine to accompany your premium sushi dinner.
Holly Graham's bartending journey has literally taken her around the world, and her latest stop is Azabu-Juban's Tokyo Confidential.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jul 28, 2024
The star-studded bar ‘so incoherent that it’s coherent’
Tokyo Confidential is a buzzy new watering hole launched by ascendent bartender Holly Graham in the capital’s upscale Azabu-Juban neighborhood.
To be the best of the best, according to the exclusive Relais & Chateaux group, Japan's 'ryokan' inns need to leave guests with "a transcendental feeling."
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024
To Relais & Chateaux, not all ‘ryokan’ inns are created equal
In Japan, this exclusive association has partnered with just 13 hotels and traditional 'ryokan' inns and seven stand-alone restaurants spread across the country.
The Mioya Shuzo brewery was damaged by the 2024 New Year's Day earthquake — but not to the extent that it couldn't serve as a shelter of sorts for the region's many sake breweries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 22, 2024
To Miho Fujita, ‘rules are meant to be broken in the sake world’
Miho Fujita knows the old songs sung by sake brewers by heart, but she's updated the tradition in her own way, infusing the age-old craft with a modern twist.
Enamored with Japanese cuisine, Xander Soren sought to create the perfect Pinot Noir to suit the country's most common flavors.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
May 7, 2024
A Californian Pinot Noir bred for the Japanese table
In November, a former Apple employee launched Xander Soren Wines and its Pinot vintages exclusively in Japan.
Virgilio Martinez (left) and Santiago Fernandez, head chef at Tokyo's Maz, are finding massive success bringing elevated Latin American cuisine to Japanese diners.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 18, 2024
At two-starred Maz, ‘the experience extends beyond the meal’
“We see Maz as a kind of ‘culture house’ for Latin America in Japan,” says head chef Santiago Fernandez.
A native of Seoul who grew up in Shanghai, Hana Yoon moved to New York to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 4, 2024
In Japan’s age-old capital, a young head chef stirs the pot
Upon her arrival in Kyoto, Yoon spent four months delving into the distinctive varieties of “kyōyasai,” vegetables grown in Kyoto and its suburbs.
What's old in Tokyo libations is new again at Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery, where sake's cloudy, rustic predecessor takes center stage.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 24, 2023
At 2023’s close, Tokyo bars enter a new golden age
This year’s cocktail trends offer a spirit-forward reflection on the past as well as glimpses of the future.
Hidenori Izaki, one-time winner of the World Barista Championship, brings coffee to new heights at Cokuun.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 26, 2023
Tasting the 'Zen of coffee' at speakeasy-esque Cokuun
Drawing inspiration from fine dining and tea ceremony, Hidenori Izaki brews coffee with exceptional hospitality and speakeasy-style mystique.
Blue Bottle Studio Kyoto's tasting sessions combine excellent coffees, curated music and a technical display of barista-ship.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 26, 2023
Blue Bottle Kyoto gives coffee the 'kaiseki' treatment
The menu unfolds with each course crafted to present a different facet of coffee culture.
The Chairman's steamed flower crab with aged Shaoxing wine and chicken oil
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 5, 2023
Seeking 'the perfect combination of Chinese and French cuisine'
Chefs Daniel Calvert and Danny Yip are old friends, but for the first time this month, they're collaborators.
Fumiyuki Kinsu (left) and Shun Sato are the driving forces behind Censu's wine-loving approach to Japanese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023
Censu: An izakaya where wine outshines beer and sake
Censu’s eclectic cuisine is rooted in Japanese culinary vernacular but takes in the breadth of chef Shun Sato’s diverse experiences abroad.
The refined fusion cuisine at Toki reflects the delicacy of Kyoto’s famous kaiseki (multicourse Japanese haute cuisine).
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 17, 2023
Does whisky have a place in Kyoto's fine dining? Hibiki says yes.
My meal opens with a sparkling mix of soda and Hibiki Blossom Harmony, a blend finished with grain spirit aged in cherrywood casks.
At the inaugural World Lambrusco Day held this June, the sparkling wine took center stage beneath the Eiffel Tower.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 20, 2023
Passe or sparkling, Lambrusco can get you through a Tokyo summer
Fizzy, fruity and tantalizingly affordable, the sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region is a convivial antidote to the summertime blues.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 25, 2023
Life is beautiful with libations from Bulgari Bar
The cocktail menu designed by bar manager Andrea Minarelli showcases spirits from Italy and Japan.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
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