The chow-down tour of Kanto’s local dishes

| Aug 24, 2012

The chow-down tour of Kanto’s local dishes

This month’s Everyman Eats column brings you popular culinary affordable oddities from Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures — served with a dash of local culture. Tokyo Any food-inspired map of Kanto will have a big fat star over Tokyo’s Tsukishima district, an enclave of ...

How cheap cuisine can save your town

| Jul 27, 2012

How cheap cuisine can save your town

Shigeru Tamura looks remarkably trim for someone whose hobby is eating fried noodles. Over a lunch at a yakisoba restaurant on the backstreets of Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, the 49-year-old author and law professor admits he dines out as often as twice a day. Then ...

Digging in: the rise of B-kyū gurume

| Jun 29, 2012

Digging in: the rise of B-kyū gurume

Everyman Eats is a new column about the phenomenon of B-kyū gurume (B-grade gourmet) — inexpensive, down-home cooking that reflects local culinary traditions. This first installment considers 10 moments that helped shape the recent B-kyū boom. Ramen hits the big screen (1985) Director Juzo ...

Sweet somethings

Feb 10, 2012

Sweet somethings

Japanese guys have it pretty sweet when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Unlike their cousins overseas, they don’t have to worry about sending roses or booking a table at a fancy restaurant — or, for that matter, even marking their calendars for Feb. 14. ...

Nov 11, 2011

A taste of home: Life after National Azabu

Ask local expats what they miss most from their homelands, and they might tell you about Fig Newton cookies (Americans), Shreddies breakfast cereal (Brits), fresh coriander (Thais) or morning congee (Chinese). In other words, an authentic taste of home. That’s what Tokyo’s National Azabu ...