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November 21, 2024
 

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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 19, 2020
Sake brewing in 2020: ‘Hard times are going to be with us for a while’
After years of incremental gains due to growing popularity abroad, Japan's sake producers struggled with substantial losses this year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 7, 2020
You, too, can learn from master sake brewers with Taste with the Toji
Looking to support the sake industry during the pandemic, sake educator Simone Maynard created a weekly online event to connect brewery and consumer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 17, 2020
Tokyo’s newest drinks trend? Upscale alcohol-free cocktails.
The low- and zero-proof alcohol trend has hit Japan, and for those who want to abstain without sacrificing flavor, there's no shortage of options.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 10, 2020
Spice Lab Tokyo: Defying expectations of Indian-Japanese fusion cuisine
How does executive chef Tejas Sovani balance the maximalist complexity of Indian recipes with Japanese cuisine's understated grace?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Sep 26, 2020
Japan’s chefs build on the growing market for sustainable seafood
For advocacy group Chefs for the Blue, the long-term goal is to help fish populations return to levels of stability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 12, 2020
It’s time to resurrect the tradition of boozy breakfasts with friends in Tokyo
We all deserve a morning meal cooked to order paired with a craft cocktail. “Kanpai Culture” has you covered with three new cafe-bar hybrids.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 29, 2020
At Est, chef Guillaume Bracaval attempts to answer the question, ‘What is luxury?’
The chef's new French fine-dining restaurant venture opens inside the swanky Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi on Sept. 1.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 19, 2020
Episode 61: Tough times for Tokyo, the world's dining capital
With more Michelin stars than any other city in the world, Tokyo is something of a dining mecca. But in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has turned Tokyo's restaurant and hospitality industry on its head.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 15, 2020
Camaraderie drives the roving banquet of Eat Play Works’ food hall
Eat Play Works' food hall, The Restaurant, is a 17-shop collaboration based on mutual cooperation — and excellent meals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 8, 2020
This summer, orange (wine) is the new pink
Simultaneously fresh and bold, tannic orange wines are increasingly easy to find at restaurants in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 25, 2020
Four Japanese home cocktail recipes starring The SG Shochu
These four cocktail recipes featuring The SG Shochu lineup include one by Yusuke Sakabe of bar Lurra in Kyoto, and three designed by Shingo Gokan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 12, 2020
Katrine Klinken: 'Good sake bars are a must!'
Do Japanese and Nordic cuisine have anything in common? There are some mild similarities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 11, 2020
Welcome aboard SG Airways, Shingo Gokan’s cocktail-pairing pop-up
Since early June, The SG Club has hosted a food-and-cocktail-pairing experience that takes guests on a “virtual world tour.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 13, 2020
There’s a shōchū pairing for any meal or mood
Is Japan's shu014dchu016b spirit the perfect diet aid? Maybe not. But it will pair with whatever you still have in your pantry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 9, 2020
Here’s what the sake and shōchū experts are drinking at home
It's 5 o'clock somewhere: Time for a well-deserved at-home happy hour.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 11, 2020
COVID-19 puts a cork in profits for Tokyo’s wine bars
COVID-19-related lockdowns and subsequent reservation cancellations are threatening Tokyo's wine businesses. Although some are making the pivot to delivery, many might be unable to weather shutting their doors for months without government assistance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 7, 2020
Nagayamahonke Shuzojo: Sake with terroir takes root in Yamaguchi
At sake brewery, Nagayamahonke Shuzojo, brewer Takahiro Nagayama prioritizes organic rice, water and sustainability over technology. The result: sake with distinct local flavor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 8, 2020
Rococo Tokyo White: Japan's fine dining finally has a luxury beer
Keith Martinez and Jerrel Brantley, co-founders of the boutique beer company Maison Rococo, fell in love with Japan during a trip to Tokyo in 2015. Enchanted by the country's culture of hospitality and cuisine, the two friends, who had met at the University of Chicago, sensed an opportunity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 1, 2020
Japanese chefs reflect on the chaos of Gelinaz!
Three Japanese chefs reflect on their experiences participating in last December's The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle: 2019 Stay In Tour event, a giant recipe swap spanning 38 countries and featuring 148 chefs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 11, 2020
Young brewers, new sake and classic flavors
Sake is enjoying a new wave of popularity, thanks to improvements in quality, an ever-expanding variety of styles and the spread of sake education programs. Now, younger brewers are being encouraged to enter the market.
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’

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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