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July 27, 2024
 

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Melinda Joe

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@MelindaJoe

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 / 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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 7, 2019
Faro: High-end plant-based fare with alcohol pairings to match
Increasing numbers of high-end restaurants in Tokyo offer vegetarian and vegan tasting menus. But it's a surprising challenge to find drink pairings to accompany them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 30, 2019
Gelinaz! Shuffle 2019: Creativity thrives when chefs stay at home
The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle 2019: Stay In Tour critiques the relentless travel chefs have come to view as necessary, while still maximizing global culinary exchange and creativity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 9, 2019
Sanbun: The simple joy of sipping a midday sake
It's trickier than you might expect to find a good sake bar where you can order a glass or two before sundown. Luckily, there's standing bar Sanbun to fill that gap.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 12, 2019
An unexpected synergy of sake and wagyu
Innovative sake company Nihonshu Oendan has teamed up with Yakiniku Yazawa to pair its junmai daiginju014d sake with wagyu beef.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII
Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
When did summer in Japan stop being fun?
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

Podcast

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

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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