While Google may be the restaurant review medium of choice in other countries, Japan largely prefers Tabelog, where five-star reviews are rare and three-star reviews aren't what they seem.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025
On Japan's top foodie site, imperfection is gold
Cultural expectations may influence ratings on Tabelog, but reading between the lines might help you find the next hidden gem.
Bar Bota, the 37th-floor watering hole at the Four Seasons Osaka, looks out on a glittering cityscape better known for its cheap eats and drinks.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025
Slowly but surely, Osaka emerges from Kyoto’s fine-dining shadow
The majority of tourists go to Osaka with street food on their minds, but the city is rapidly improve its elevated dining options as well.
Chef Kentaro Mura’s favorite way of serving snow crab is as shabu-shabu: The legs are lightly blanched in dashi, then the meat is removed and served with a generous scoop of crab tomalley.
Toyama’s finest seafood underpins Ebitei Bekkan’s return to greatness
This "kaiseki" restaurant has been making up for lost time with a culinary flair that presents Toyama’s seafood tradition in a contemporary guise.
Inspired by a scene from "La Grande Maison Tokyo," we whipped up a simple yet hearty 'parmentier,' or French shepherd's pie.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Mar 2, 2025
A French shepherd’s pie that's Japanese on the inside
Make the best of your mackerel leftovers by layering them as fillings for a casserole.
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2025
Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha
Production methods and economic risks keep the domestic tea industry from ramping up supply.
These larger than life meatballs are inspired by the stuffed meatballs found in Iran's Tabriz Bazaar.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Feb 23, 2025
Cold with a chance of kimchi meatballs
Warm up with a comforting hot pot of ground meat stuffed with the Korean fermented vegetable.
Created by a Hokkaido workshop, this Camembert represents the vanguard of Japanese cheeses no longer content with a reputation as low-quality, processed slices.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2025
Fresh off awards, Japanese cheese seeks a taste ‘unique to this land’
A growing number of Japanese cheesemakers are gaining international recognition, and some are aiming for a new frontier of flavor.

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Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo