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Phoebe Amoroso
Despite ongoing struggles, 2024 had plenty of bright spots for Japan's sake industry.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 15, 2024
Glass half full: Japan’s sake industry celebrates a brighter 2024
Despite a general decline in consumption, new openings and greater awareness gave Japan’s sake lovers reason to cheers this year.
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 2, 2024
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
An app called Timeleft hopes to combat big-city alienation through a simple meal with a diverse group of people.
Virtu is located on the 39th floor of the Four Seasons Tokyo hotel in the Otemachi neighborhood of Chiyoda Ward.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 11, 2024
Virtu brings hospitality award home to the country of ‘omotenashi’
This is the first time a bar in Japan has earned the distinction from the Asia's 50 Best Bars organization since it was first awarded in 2020.
Ayatana's hand-pounded curry paste is just one example of what chef Bo Songvisava calls her revival of traditional Thai cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023
Ayatana elevates Thai comfort food to gourmet cuisine
Japan has no shortage of Thai food, but this new Kyoto restaurant aims to transcend its reputation of a casual bite.
For drinks surrounded by some of Tokyo’s sleekest skyscrapes, Marunouchi House’s rooftop terrace can’t be beat.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Top 5
Aug 27, 2023
Skyline sips: Tokyo’s best rooftop bars
Instead of relegating it to a cherry blossom-related niche, Tokyo is recognizing the allure of drinking outside.
Ater Jimmie Husen
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 6, 2023
On plates, Sweden and Japan are a natural pair
Swedish and Japanese cuisine are not natural allies, but diners in Japan don’t seem to care when they taste this unique fusion for themselves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 30, 2023
The ‘Two Faces’ of Gold Bar’s cocktails make for surprising sips
Minato Ward has no shortage of expensive cocktails, but Gold Bar mixes in as much style as the best of them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 23, 2023
Japan tastes success at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony
The evening in Singapore marked the first full, in-person night of awards since the pandemic began.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 14, 2022
Subterranean sake: Cave aging Japan’s national drink
Sake isn't usually aged. When it is, though, it's virtually never done over years in repurposed underground caverns.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 4, 2022
So you want to be a stand-up comedian?
Learn the tricks of the trade at Tokyo Comedy Bar, the capital's new stand-up comedy venue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 17, 2021
Keep calm and tuck in: Tokyo discovers British cuisine isn’t just pie in the sky
Critics have missed, or chosen to stubbornly ignore, Britain's glorious culinary renaissance. Here are some of Tokyo's latest openings where you can get a taste of good ol' British grub.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 13, 2021
Bicycle boom: Why transportation in the ‘new normal’ is on two wheels
The COVID-19 pandemic has sent cycle sales soaring, but will the momentum keep rolling forward in Japan?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Jan 30, 2021
How COVID-19 is forcing us to re-examine food waste
The pandemic is breaking down the 'invisible wall' between food producers and consumers. But is it enough to change wasteful habits?
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
Nov 28, 2020
Twillo: Fairy tale yatai bar hits the streets of Tokyo after midnight
Running a traveling bar might seem like an avant-garde answer to the coronavirus, but owner Shotaro Kamijo is in the business for a different reason.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 26, 2020
Top 5: The best bakeries in Tokyo
Shokupan giving you a resting bread face? The Japan Times recommends five bakeries that hit the sweet spot between technique, innovation and taste.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 18, 2020
Summer sipping: How sake is getting creative in the heat
Sake brewers are embracing creative takes on natsuzake to bolster sales and tempt new drinkers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 21, 2020
Sake, sashimi and all-night hours: Tokyo's izakaya bars have it all
Although many bars and restaurants in Japan remain open, medical professionals strongly recommend people refrain from congregating in small, crowded spaces to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For more information, visit bit.ly/whocovid19-jp.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Feb 15, 2020
Free-range eggs from Tottori help crack regional revitalization
A queue of people snakes alongside a shiny glass cafe, with many resigned to a two-hour wait. Their goal: some simple yet famously fluffy pancakes. This could be a typical scene from the trendy Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo. Except this cafe is surrounded by hills of luscious green, hidden in the small...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 4, 2020
The rapidly maturing market for Japan's artisanal cheeses
Few people associate Japan with artisanal cheese. But since the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement came into effect last year, Japanese cheese is gaining a global reputation for quality and innovative use of terroir.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition