National
NRA makes new reactor safety regimen official
The Nuclear Regulation Authority officially approves new safety requirements for reactors aimed at preventing disasters like the catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jan 17, 2013
Convivio: Shinjuku's latest Italian proves itself on the plate
by Robbie Swinnerton
First impressions are everything — and at Convivio they are distinctly underwhelming. The elevator entrance, just off a busy main street in brash Shinjuku, is right by the service counter of a KFC outlet, the stern glare of the Colonel seeming to reproach you ...
Food & Drink | A TASTE OF HOME Jan 17, 2013
Searching for Singapore: Chicken rice and more in Tokyo
by Rebecca Milner
Considering that Singapore is famous for being one of the world’s most delicious cities, it is surprising that Singaporean food doesn’t have more cachet, or at least more of a presence, in Japan. As Japanese teenagers growing up in Singapore, Daimu Kato and Kota ...
Food & Drink Jan 11, 2013
Overseas restaurants set up shop in Japan
by Steve Trautlein
Call it the Pancake Revolution. During the past five years, Japanese diners have become enamored with inventive takes on classic Western breakfast dishes. Unlike many homegrown culinary trends, though, this movement is being driven by big-name chefs and dining groups arriving from overseas with ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jan 11, 2013
Japan's latest wine trend is only natural
by Melinda Joe
It’s official: Natural wines are entering mainstream consciousness in Japan. I know this not simply because sections devoted to organic, “bio” (biodynamic), or shizen-ha (natural) wines have become fixtures in many retail shops, or even because sales of natural wines have risen around the ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jan 4, 2013
Misogura Tamayura: Welcome the new year with a taste of tradition
by Robbie Swinnerton
Tradition rules at this time of year, and few parts of Tokyo are more traditional than the grid of narrow streets to the south of Ueno’s Shinobazu Pond. Although many of the buildings in this former geisha district have seen much better days, there ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Dec 28, 2012
2012: Another year of good Tokyo eating
by Robbie Swinnerton
Before we usher out the Dragon and ring in the Snake, it’s time to pause, look back and appreciate all the fine eating that Tokyo has provided this year. Gongs and rankings are meaningless in a city the size of Tokyo: How can anyone ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Dec 28, 2012
Savor the symbolism at New Year's
by Makiko Itoh
New Year’s is the most important holiday on the Japanese calendar. And as befitting such an important festival, the food traditionally served is lavish and elaborate. At the centerpiece of the New Year’s feast, which traditionally went on for as long as seven days, ...
Food & Drink | EVERYMAN EATS Dec 21, 2012
Food festivals: all yesterday's parties
by Steve Trautlein
The best of 2012 The inaugural Tama Geta Shoku no Saiten in Hachioji offered locavores a chance to sample the creative cuisine of western Tokyo. Thirty vendors showed off dishes such as motsu yaki-udon, a bowl of beef tripe and noodles from the town ...
Food & Drink | A TASTE OF HOME Dec 21, 2012
Recipes for a new life in Japan
by Rebecca Milner
Nwe Nwe Kyaw arrived in Japan 12 years ago, the wife of a political refugee from Myanmar granted asylum in Japan. In Yangon, she had been a teacher; here she had to figure out something else to do. “There were no Burmese restaurants in ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Dec 14, 2012
Sake-making mission: the last step
by Melinda Joe
The thermometer inside the brewing facility at Shimazaki Shuzo registered a chilly 8 degrees. Like everyone else who had signed up to take part in the final sake-making session of the Karasuyama Taiken (www.karasuyama-taiken.jp), I was dressed for work — in a thin white ...
Food & Drink Dec 14, 2012
Here's to a veggie, merry Christmas
by Eryk Salvaggio
Every holiday has its meal, and in Japan at Christmas it’s takeaway crispy chicken that rules the roost. For faithful, joyful and triumphant vegetarians in Japan, however, the roasted holiday bird is as appealing as the piece of coal left at the bottom of ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Dec 7, 2012
Monna Lisa: Michelin-starred food you can afford
by Robbie Swinnerton
As the dust settles from the annual pronouncement of Michelin stars — and, yes, Tokyo remains the tire company’s gastronomic capital of the world — it’s timely to remember that stellar dining does not have to mean stratospheric prices, even in the most rarefied ...