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November 22, 2024
 

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J.J. O'Donoghue
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Aug 26, 2017
Sushi Masa: Three sushi restaurants, one charm
Getting in and out of Sushi Masa is much like trying to maneuver in a walk-in closet.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Aug 12, 2017
Sumikura: Creating odes to the quotidian bentō
Most visitors to Kyoto rarely venture west of the Katsura River. On the face of it, the western tract of the city of Kyoto pales in comparison to Higashiyama in the east, which feels as though it could crumble under the weight of world heritage sites and the tourist hordes ticking them off their bucket...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Aug 12, 2017
Kissaten Nasu: Breaking out the old-timey atmosphere
Kissaten Nasu is three separate but conjoined entities: As the name of the restaurant implies, it's a kissaten, a traditional cafe. But it's also a curry shop and a jazz cafe, and the master might just be one of the most dapper and suave cafe owners this side of Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 29, 2017
Dabiz Molinero: 'Imagination pushes art and makes it limitless'
Spanish artist on the insight behind chocolate.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jul 22, 2017
Kiji: Innovation and tradition in 'okonomiyaki'
As everyone in Osaka and every guidebook about the city will tell you, okonomiyaki, that pancake-like Japanese dish, is this city's soul food. It's comfort food, fit for every man, woman and child. Some might argue the same for takoyaki, octopus batter balls, but that is another discussion for another...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jul 22, 2017
Le Sucre-Couer: Riding the wave of boulangerie culture
We are living through a renaissance for the boulangerie in Japan. In just about every city and town across the country you'll find artisanal bakers making quality baguettes, epi, croissants and pain au chocolat.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jul 15, 2017
Designer Yosuke Ushigome finds solutions to culture shock in English and humor
How do you solve a geopolitical problem like Kim Jong Un? Containment? Embargoes? Propaganda? Regime change? Synchronized baseball?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 15, 2017
'Tokyo Station': Taut thriller has slow start, strong finish
The bulk of Martin Cruz Smith's "Tokyo Station" is set in 1941, when the impending war with the Allied Forces was the talk of Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jul 8, 2017
Nanaezushi: Quality, affordable neighborhood sushi
Nanaezushi, on Shichijo Street in Kyoto, occupies that middle ground between the gimmick and conveyor-belt joints and the high-end places where you can expect to pay ¥20,000 for an atmosphere that's often as much fun as a funeral, however good the sushi itself might be.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jul 8, 2017
Tentation d'Ange: A vaguely European atmosphere and top-shelf bread
Tentation d'Ange tries hard to channel a little corner of Provence, or somewhere similar where potted flowers are caught up in the tendrils of runnings beans and grass grows among the paved stones to accordion music. It is also at complete odds with the grayness of its surroundings, on another dull residential...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jul 1, 2017
Blogger Namiko Chen satisfies an appetite for Japanese fare
Every day for the past six years, Namiko Chen has been sending recipes from her cookbook of Japanese dishes out into the world from her home in San Francisco via her website and through a mix of social media channels.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 24, 2017
Kinki Daigaku Suisan Kenkyujo: Take the farm-grown bluefin tuna taste test
Some fish swim in universities. Or university-run fish farms, to be exact, and upon graduation they end up as sashimi served over a bed of crushed ice.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 24, 2017
Takeuchi Udon Ten: For those who like high volume
Not all udon is created equal. I thought it was just me who was having a hard time, until I surreptitiously looked around and saw that a few other diners were also struggling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 17, 2017
'Flowering of the Bamboo': Revisiting the mass poisoning of 1948
The acronym GUBU (grotesque, unusual, bizarre and unprecedented) fits the mass murder at the Teihoku Bank in Tokyo on Jan. 26, 1948. Sixteen people were deliberately poisoned, including an 8-year-old boy. More money was left behind than stolen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 17, 2017
'Harmless Like You': An estranged mother and son tied together by art
"Harmless Like You" centers on the lives of a mother, who is an artist, and her son, an art dealer. Neither are particularly likable characters and both freely admit to their weirdness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jun 10, 2017
Taihou: Excellent Sichuan cuisine in a family atmosphere
Taihou is the kind of place where everybody gets to know your name. On a recent visit for Sunday lunch I stayed well past last orders, past dessert, past an impromptu cheese course, only leaving before chef Kouki Watanabe and his staff sat down for their meal and a power nap before gearing up for the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jun 10, 2017
Da Yuki: An authentic Neapolitan pizzeria
Da Yuki is an authentic, bijou Neapolitan pizzeria opened 10 years ago by Yuki Kamada, who, like many Japanese, is not prone to doing things in half measures.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jun 3, 2017
Takashi Miyazaki: Food ambassador to Ireland
Chef Takashi Miyazaki has a Cork accent.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 27, 2017
Kunsei Lover Fumo: where food is better smoked
At Kunsei Lover Fumo, smoking — of the food, that is — is so desirable that it appears twice in the name of the restaurant, first in Japanese (kunsei) and then in Italian (fumo).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 27, 2017
Sumiba Yakitori Enza: U.S. cinema meets grilled chicken
It's not quite cinema-dark inside Enza, but it's not far off. Indeed, the cinema connection is apposite: In many ways Enza is as much about yakitori as it is about icons of American cinema.
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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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