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The head of an official inquiry into the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh factory complex said the building’s owner was the “main culprit” for the disaster because he violated construction codes. The cave-in of the eight-story Rana Plaza outside the capital last month killed ...
Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the “best birthday party ever” when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion. The 90-year-old French director is hoping for an even better birthday gift, ...
As far as debuts go, Shohei Otani's delivered. The celebrated rookie pitched fairly well on Thursday night, and though he finished outside the decision, he left the mound with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters well within striking distance of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Whenever an exciting new restaurant is launched in Tokyo, usually it’s all over the foodie magazines within days. Not so with Flatiron. Though it’s been up and running since September, it’s been flying well under the radar. That is nothing to do with its ...
For a food with such a long and venerable history, udon gets surprisingly short shrift in Tokyo. Sure, it’s not hard to find these long, chunky, white wheat noodles. But compared with the many artisan soba-ya serving handcrafted buckwheat noodles, there are very few ...
Autumn is the golden season. Fruit and hearty root vegetables; mushrooms, nuts and new-season rice; plentiful fish and seafood, too: This abundance is the palette from which Japan’s top kaiseki chefs draw in creating their intricate, elegant multicourse meals. Few are as accomplished at ...
The golden age of luxury long-distance train travel is over. The days when overnight journeys were made in exclusive style — complete with Pullman sleeping cars, lounge bar and restaurant on wheels — have gone the way of the steam locomotive. But memories die ...
The entrance to Yorozuya Okagesan is, to put it mildly, discreet. The modest sign is set back so far from the sidewalk you’d never spot the steps unless you knew to look. And you’d never go down them anyway unless you had a reservation ...
Beard. What sort of name is that for a restaurant, least of all one serving French-inflected food? And what chef would have the word daubed in orange paint across his front door, on the diagonal no less? One with a quirky sense of humor, ...
Summertime, and the living is far from easy in the city. Stuck in the middle of the heat island, appetites fray and taste buds wilt like yesterday’s lettuce. Simple snacks are called for, not major meals, with copious quantities of liquid sustenance too. Whether ...
In the relentless heat of summer in Japan, it is often hard to generate the appetite and energy for a full-course sit-down meal. But there’s far more incentive to head out for dinner (or lunch) at a top restaurant if you know you’ll be ...
Arriving for the first time at Torishiki’s elegant entrance, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had come to the wrong address. The chic, charcoal-gray facade, artfully illuminated in the dusk; the dwarf maple growing from a ceramic pot; the plain-wood sliding door with its ...
To track down Tokyo’s best Thai street food, you need to step out of your comfort zone. The search may lead to pungent backstreets, brash suburban malls or hole-in-the-wall stores redolent of lemongrass and durian. In the case of Montee, the trail takes you ...
Maruyama-cho is one of the least-known corners of Shibuya. A generation ago, it was more famous for its “short-stay” hotels and carousing salarymen’s sake bars than its dining options. While those pleasures are still available, today the neighborhood attracts a rather more varied — ...
If the view from the top of Tokyo Skytree leaves you hungry for more down-to-earth pleasures, there’s no shortage of eating options in the Tokyo Solamachi mall at the foot of the tower. The ground floor arcade offers snacks and souvenirs, including a branch ...