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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2022

Natsuko Shoji crowned Asia's best female chef for her fashion-influenced fine dining at Été

At her hyper-exclusive six-seater restaurant, u00c9tu00e9, Natsuko Shoji creates elaborate 10-course meals that reference fashion and art.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants 2021
Jan 16, 2022

Every meal at Mekumi feels like an education

When it comes to sushi, what happens before the chef gets hold of the fish is just as important as his or her technique in preparing it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 14, 2020

Supercomputer-developed face shields may offer lifeline for Japan's restaurant industry

Using the Fugaku supercomputer, the world's fastest, a consortium of Japanese researchers has developed a wrap-around face shield that can more effectively block airborne droplets and reduce exposure to the coronavirus for diners at pubs and restaurants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 6, 2020

Japan restaurateur looks to AI-based management to stay ahead of curve in virus-battered industry

Entrepreneur sees a chance for AI-based program to thrive if industry abandons its low-margin, high-turnover business model.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 20, 2020

Toranomon Yokocho: Tokyo’s hottest restaurants, reimagined

Toranomon Yokocho is the latest scrubbed-up yokochu014d to hit Tokyo, offering diners a la carte options from branches of high-end restaurants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2018

'Life or death': Tokyo pub owners fear impact of tougher smoking laws

Hiroshi Yoshida is facing a dilemma.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Restaurant Do's and Don'ts
Jan 6, 2018

Finding and keeping restaurant and bar staff in Japan can be its own full-time job

Even if you think you're fully staffed, the constant turnover in the industry means you'll never really be finished with the cycle of searching for, hiring and training new employees.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Oct 16, 2017

Ippudo ramen chain credits its global success to localized tastes

Toshiyuki Kiyomiya likes to compare ramen to a carefully arranged universe in a bowl.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2015

The future of conveyor-belt sushi

In October, U.K. sushi chain Yo! Sushi opened a new kaiten (conveyor belt) restaurant in a Florida mall. It is the third branch the chain has established in the United States this year, and more branches are slated to open in 2016. It is a reminder that this automated approach to dining continues to...
Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2014

Most restaurants still don't get it

Regarding the March 31 article "Airports eager to cater to Muslims' needs": It is good to see that Japan is catering to Muslims at airports and a few other places. But as a regular visitor to Japan, I am astounded that Japan is doing nothing for the millions of global tourists who are used to enjoying...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 16, 2013

Think caviar but brace for caveat

In one of the most memorable scenes of the late, and sorely missed, Juzo Itami's classic 1985 film "Tampopo" ("Dandelion"), Japanese businessmen enter a French restaurant. Confused by the exotic items on the menu, the elderly members of the party stick to what they know: sole meuniere, consomme soup...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Oct 24, 2013

A gourmet tour of Japan in one spot

If you were visiting Japan and wanted to experience the best of the country's dining scene, your itinerary might look something like this:
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 11, 2013

Dramatic rise of factory-made meals in France causes outrage

It is the warmest memory of many a vacation in France: the little Paris restaurant where a white-aproned waiter served a dish glorified on the menu as something homey like blanquette de veau grand-mere, topped off with a still-tepid creme brulee that was just the right mix of crackly and creamy.
Freshness and seasonality, along with the chef's ability to highlight both, feature heavily in Japanese fine dining.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 24, 2023

Does Japan's fine dining philosophy stand alone?

While Japanese fine dining is not as categorically defined as French gastronomie, a culture of refined dining has long existed in the country.
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.
Fumiyuki Kinsu (left) and Shun Sato are the driving forces behind Censu's wine-loving approach to Japanese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023

Censu: An izakaya where wine outshines beer and sake

Censu’s eclectic cuisine is rooted in Japanese culinary vernacular but takes in the breadth of chef Shun Sato’s diverse experiences abroad.
Chef Masato Nishihara chose Nara as the site for his restaurant, Tsukumo, for its antiquity, its proximity to nature and its ancient connections with overseas cultures.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 3, 2023

Tsukumo: Japanese cuisine inspired by Nara's ancient roots

Like the treasures housed inside Nara's Shosoin repository, it may be years before chef Masato Nishihara reprises some of his exquisite dishes at Tsukumo.
Spot workers who choose when and where to work through dedicated apps during their free time are seen as a new pool of human resources in industry sectors that have faced labor shortages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 4, 2023

Number of 'spot workers' surges in Japan amid labor shortage

The work style has gained popularity due to the flexibility it offers: individuals can choose when and where to work through dedicated apps.
A native of Seoul who grew up in Shanghai, Hana Yoon moved to New York to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 4, 2024

In Japan’s age-old capital, a young head chef stirs the pot

Upon her arrival in Kyoto, Yoon spent four months delving into the distinctive varieties of “kyōyasai,” vegetables grown in Kyoto and its suburbs.
Virgilio Martinez (left) and Santiago Fernandez, head chef at Tokyo's Maz, are finding massive success bringing elevated Latin American cuisine to Japanese diners.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 18, 2024

At two-starred Maz, ‘the experience extends beyond the meal’

“We see Maz as a kind of ‘culture house’ for Latin America in Japan,” says head chef Santiago Fernandez.
Being invited as a guest chef to luxury hotels provides me with an opportunity to showcase my cooking to as many customers in a single day.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 25, 2024

Grace Choy: A few thoughts on being a guest chef

The key as a guest chef is standardization — how to maintain the quality of the food while serving hundreds of diners a day.
Yakitori chain Torikizoku will open outlets in Taiwan and Hong Kong as part of its planned expansion into the Asian market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024

Restaurant chain Torikizoku to open branches in Taiwan and Hong Kong

Specific details regarding the number of restaurants and finalized opening dates in Hong Kong and Taiwan are yet to be determined.
An employee at the Apita Kisarazu shopping mall in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture. Pan Pacific International Holdings, the parent company of the firm that operates Apita, abolished its rules on hair color in 2022 following requests by its employees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024

Japan's retailers and restaurants ease dress codes amid labor shortage

More and more companies have abolished in-house rules prohibiting colored hair and piercings to help with hiring and retain staff.
Chef Harutomo Hagi's self-named restaurant in Iwaki was selected as the 2023 Japan Times Destination Restaurant of the Year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 10, 2024

Hagi: French restaurant leads Fukushima revival

The Japan Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year is a sterling example of Fukushima’s slow and steady post-disaster revival.
In 2017, chef Shinsaku Suzuki moved to the Yatsugatake region of Yamanashi Prefecture with his wife, Emi Ishida, after locating the perfect premises: a splendid 170-year-old traditional Japanese house.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 6, 2024

Ai to Ibukuro: Terroir of Yamanashi's uplands

With a name that translates to “Love and Stomach,” this rural restaurant not far from Tokyo delivers with flying colors on both counts.
Watami CEO Miki Watanabe (right) during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024

Izakaya chain buys Subway Japan in challenge to McDonald’s

The Subway franchise has historically struggled to gain footing in the Japanese market, with just 178 locations compared to nearly 3,000 for McDonald’s.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?