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Japan Times
JAPAN / Deep Dive
Jul 26, 2018

Sushi's balancing act: Tradition versus adaptation

For leading food critic Masuhiro Yamamoto, sushi is part food, part theater, a dining experience unique among Japanese culinary traditions. From the closed-off tuna auctions of Tsukiji to the chefs who meticulously craft morsels of fish for loyal customers, each player has a role to play in this carefully...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 3, 2020

Chefs vs scientists: France's pandemic fight to keep eating out

In France and around the world, business owners have pushed back against curbs sought by scientists to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 25, 2011

Family restaurants falling from flavor

Family-style restaurants are feeling the squeeze as diners increasingly opt for meals more on the cheap, such as under-¥300 "gyudon" bowls of beef on rice and "bento" boxed lunches below ¥500.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 17, 2020

Restaurant industry unlikely to look the same even after outbreak subsides

American restaurants, battling for survival amid the coronavirus, are starting to ask the question: Even when the lockdown lifts, how do we lure back skittish diners? Their margin for error is very small.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 30, 2001

American-style peace redefines Japanese palate

Fortunately, the GIs had something in their pockets and backpacks that led to instant friendship with total strangers: the Hershey chocolate bar.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 25, 2021

Seth Sulkin: 'Having risk-averse banks with risk-averse venture capitalists makes success extremely difficult in Japan'

The CEO of commercial real estate development firm Pacifica Capital highlights the importance of switching lanes when external circumstances change.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 26, 2014

Tabelog.com's customer-generated restaurant reviews prompt food fight

By getting diners to post over 5.9 million reviews of nearly 800,000 eateries, Tabelog has brought unprecedented transparency to one of the world's best dining scenes. It has also infuriated chefs and owners along the way.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2010

Theme restaurants work some magic

A ninja takes you through a dark narrow path, serves you food and drink and performs magic in a restaurant in Tokyo's Akasaka district where the likes of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and famed film director Steven Spielberg have dined.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 2, 2023

At the World's 50 Best Restaurant awards, Central's win is a win for the world

The ultimate victory by Central represents a welcome change of flavor for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 1, 2019

68 restaurants awarded stars in inaugural Michelin Guide to Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectures

On May 17, Michelin published the Michelin Guide Aichi-Gifu-Mie 2019, the company's inaugural guide to Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectures in Japan's central Tokai region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 3, 2017

Japan's culinary professionals rank high at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards

On the evening of Feb. 21, chefs from nine of Japan's top restaurants ascended the stage to receive honors at the fifth Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Bangkok.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 8, 2011

Late-night restaurants ripe for robbery

"Gyudon" beef-on-rice restaurants belonging to the Sukiya chain have become a favorite target of robbers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 10, 2019

Let's discuss Michelin restaurants

A quick English lesson that asks readers about their culinary experiences.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2019

Five Japanese restaurants on the shortlist for new culinary award

A legendary Kyoto restaurant serving kaiseki, Japan's exquisite multicourse haute cuisine. A traditional grilled-eel specialist in Tokyo with roots dating to the days of the shoguns. An irreverent fast-food joint where fish burgers rule. The newly opened offshoot of one of Scandinavia's most innovative...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 13, 2015

No reservations about eating in Tokyo

We arrive a little before the soba shop opens and wait in the rain. A waitress slides the door to one side and hangs up a noren, a traditional curtain used to indicate that a shop is open. She looks at us — two Americans — and says in Japanese that the restaurant is a member's only shop and that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 26, 2013

Favorite finds from 2013's Food File

As 2013 draws to a well-replete coda, there's just enough time to stop, pause and ponder the culinary highlights of the past 12 months. Tokyo has never been better for eating out, and this year has brought a further glut of excellent restaurants at every point on the budget spectrum. Here are a few,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2018

Tokyo holds on to coveted spot as city with most stars in 2019 Michelin Guide

Tokyo has once again been hailed as the culinary capital of the world, holding on to its coveted spot as the city with the most Michelin-starred restaurants on the planet, the French company revealed Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 10, 2023

Noma, rated the world’s best restaurant, is closing its doors

Is the end of Rene Redzepi's acclaimed restaurant the canary in fine dining's coal mine?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 1, 2022

A night to savor for Japan's restaurants at 2022 Asia's 50 Best awards

It was a result for the ages: 11 restaurants from Japan made the cut, including eight in the top 20. If that wasn't enough, the top prize went to Tokyo's much loved Den.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2022

Anti-COVID steps far from uniform for Japan prefectures under quasi-emergency

Of the 16 prefectures to be under a quasi-emergency from Friday, some will halt alcohol sales at restaurants completely, while others will impose limits on when booze can be served.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 1, 2021

Tokyo still tops for dining after Michelin announcement

Three of the capital's establishments have maintained their three-star rating since rankings began in Tokyo 15 years ago.
Originally from Hiroshima, chef Kenichi Nishi moved to Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, to have better access to the top-flight seafood of Sasue Maeda.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Nov 17, 2024

Chisou Nishi Kenichi: Modern French with unrivaled Shizuoka seafood

When a chef relocates to be within walking distance of his favorite fishmonger, you know the fish must be truly special.
When chef Yoshihiro Kitagawa returned to his hometown of Matsusaka to open Shibousai Kitagawa in 2015, he chose a tranquil location on the rural fringe of the city.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 22, 2024

Shibousai Kitagawa: Creative Chinese in the home of Matsusaka wagyu

Alongside the superlative array of vegetable appetizers, a focal point at Shibousai Kitagawa is the revered local Matsusaka wagyu.
At the new L'Abysse Osaka, Yannick Alleno both pays homage to and casts aside the tradition around Japan's national dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 5, 2025

Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’

Opened in late October, Sushi L'Abysse Osaka is the Michelin-starred chef’s first outpost in Asia.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan