Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jul 4, 2013
Cicada: The buzz continues, and it's better than ever
by Robbie Swinnerton
A breeze ruffles the surface of the pool next to my table. A canvas parasol stirs above my head. I sink back into my rattan throne, a cool microbrew in my hand. On a hot summer evening in the center of Tokyo, it really ...
Food & Drink | SWEET INSPIRATIONS Jul 4, 2013
Takemura: as traditional as it gets
by Robbie Swinnerton
Sweetshops don’t get much more traditional than Takemura; inside and out it is a classic. Founded in 1930, this handsome two-story wooden building has stood untouched in the backstreets of Kanda-Sudacho, with its stone lantern, shrubs, the little palisade of bamboo and verge of ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Jun 28, 2013
Watch your summer food pairings
by Makiko Itoh
I’ll never forget that day during the summer when I was 14. I’d been away in the Yatsugatake Mountains of Honshu with my schoolmates for a rinkan gakkō (a multi-day school trip to the countryside), and on the way back we’d stopped for lunch ...
Food & Drink | EVERYMAN EATS Jun 28, 2013
Cheap or fancy Chinatown feasts
by Steve Trautlein
Dining doesn’t get more democratic than in Yokohama’s Chinatown, where visitors can spend big bucks on a single meal or fill up on steamed buns for a single coin. Here’s a personal guide to some notable dishes; in the spirit of the neighborhood, there’s ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jun 21, 2013
Gallus: Torishiki spinoff is a chick of the same feather
by Robbie Swinnerton
It’s always exciting when a favorite restaurant sprouts an offshoot, especially if that restaurant is among the best of its kind in the city. And even more so when it’s such a hot table that reservations are nigh-on impossible. But will the new spinoff ...
Food & Drink | A TASTE OF HOME Jun 21, 2013
In search of a steamed morsel or two of Hong Kong fare
by Rebecca Milner
Bamboo baskets of steaming dumplings, fluffy buns stuffed with sweet-and-savory barbecued pork, crisp spring rolls and endless pots of jasmine tea … Dim sum (or yum cha), that Hong Kong tradition, is a staple of Chinatowns the world over. Except, it seems, in Japan. ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jun 14, 2013
Hard-won battles produce great wine grapes
by Melinda Joe
On an overcast morning high in the hills of the Priorat region in northern Spain, I found myself faced with a dilemma: I had to decide which shoots to prune from the gnarled arms of a 60-year-old Garnacha grape vine. It was mid-May, and ...
Food & Drink | FOOD Jun 14, 2013
Book finds lessons in Japanese cuisine
by Melinda Joe
In 2008, British food writer Michael Booth embarked on a journey deep into the heart of Japanese food culture. The outcome of his three-month sojourn, a memoir titled “Sushi & Beyond,” follows Booth and his young family from Hokkaido to Kyushu as they seek ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jun 7, 2013
Eatrip: A healthy diet of peace and quiet
by Robbie Swinnerton
Food, flowers and tranquility: Eatrip is not just a restaurant, it’s an unlikely oasis in the busy shopping district of Harajuku. Call it a Garden of Eating. Turning off a side street, up a short flight of steps and through a narrow gap between ...
Food & Drink | SWEET INSPIRATIONS Jun 7, 2013
Japanese desserts with an alcohol kick
by Robbie Swinnerton
“There are two types of people,” my dear old landlady used to say, handing me a bowl of frothing matcha tea: “Those who like alcohol, and those who like sweets.” She was well aware which camp I belonged in. But as a tea-ceremony teacher ...
Food & Drink | FOOD May 31, 2013
Why it matters where our food comes from
by Melinda Joe
The latest trend in fine dining has nothing to do with molecular gastronomy or pan-Latin fusion: Sustainability is the new order of the day. At the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in London last month, the organizers presented their first Sustainable Restaurant ...
Food & Drink | FOOD MATTERS May 31, 2013
Gourmet food for cheap, if you can stand for it
by Robbie Swinnerton
Here’s a scenario few restaurants would dare to dream of: All tables fully booked a month ahead, all year round; lines outside an hour before opening time; a prompt turnover of satisfied customers, with as many as three rotations per evening. And a bulging ...