Felicity Hughes - The Japan Times

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Felicity Hughes

For Felicity Hughes's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jun 12, 2009

Sip away from it all with modern German Rieslings

With stifling summer temperatures just around the corner, many of us will be yearning to head for cooler climes. But if you can't escape just now, the mineral sharpness and cerebral acidity of a German Riesling might be just the ticket to help you weather the oppressive heat.

LIFE / Food & Drink

May 8, 2009

Sweet wines starting to trickle out of Romania

Since ancient times, wave upon wave of foreign conquests have washed over Romania, changing — sometimes obliterating — parts of the region's cultural identity.

LIFE / Food & Drink

Apr 10, 2009

Looking beyond the Premier Cru

Nothing can quite beat the elegance of haut couture: the individual tailoring, the attention to detail and the assurance that you'll be the envy of others. The elegance is unparalleled — and the price tag can be, too. By the same token, for sheer elegance and finesse, the classic wines from the top châteaux of Bordeaux are in a league of their own.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Apr 10, 2009

Looking beyond the Premier Cru

Nothing can quite beat the elegance of haut couture: the individual tailoring, the attention to detail and the assurance that you'll be the envy of others. The elegance is unparalleled — and the price tag can be, too. By the same token, for sheer elegance and finesse, the classic wines from the top châteaux of Bordeaux are in a league of their own.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Mar 13, 2009

A Riesling revival

Riesling, the sweet Germanic wine thought to have been consigned to the trash can of 1980s bad taste along with home perms and pastel-colored leg warmers, is making a comeback.

LIFE / Food & Drink

Mar 13, 2009

A daily revolution at Marugo

The wine-lover's equivalent to conveyer-belt sushi, Marugo II offers a revolving selection of wines for the curious wine buff.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Feb 13, 2009

A Ginza haven for New World wines and Swiss cheese

Away from the glitzy buildings of Ginza's main crossing, behind a drab frontage down a nondescript side street, sits a wine bar that really stands out from the crowd. In contrast to the majority of Tokyo's wine bars, Cheese and Wine Salon Murase embraces New World rather than Old World wines and boasts of a huge selection of 230 bottles to prove it.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Feb 13, 2009

Young vines, intense wines

Last month saw the Washington Wine Commission host the Taste Washington event, which showcased wines from 45 wineries in the region. For the event in Ebisu at the Westin Hotel's Galaxy Ballroom on Jan. 29, wine enthusiasts gathered from all over Tokyo eager to sample wines from a location that, while relatively new to the fine-wine market, is already creating a significant buzz.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Feb 6, 2009

Fashion photographer Aram Dikiciyan recognizes that his work is hard to define. "I can't really decide if I'm a fashion photographer or an artist," he explains over coffee in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district.

MULTIMEDIA

Feb 6, 2009

Fashion photographer Aram Dikiciyan recognizes that his work is hard to define. "I can't really decide if I'm a fashion photographer or an artist," he explains over coffee in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Feb 1, 2009

High life mixes with the wildlife on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

T he bed at the Reef View hotel on Hamilton Island is so large that I can't resist executing several flamboyant somersaults across its width, after which I unpack, flinging my belongings about the gigantic room in wild abandon. Used to the confines of life in Tokyo, I'm feeling a little giddy at being allowed such voluminous amounts of personal space. This is living large,I think to myself as I step out onto the balcony and gaze out at the picture-perfect panorama.

LIFE / Travel

Feb 1, 2009

High life mixes with the wildlife on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

T he bed at the Reef View hotel on Hamilton Island is so large that I can't resist executing several flamboyant somersaults across its width, after which I unpack, flinging my belongings about the gigantic room in wild abandon. Used to the confines of life in Tokyo, I'm feeling a little giddy at being allowed such voluminous amounts of personal space. This is living large,I think to myself as I step out onto the balcony and gaze out at the picture-perfect panorama.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jan 16, 2009

Japanese wine: unadulterated and ready to go abroad

The image most people have of Japanese wine is of the ¥500 plonk sitting next to the synthetic beer and sickly sweet chu-hi cocktails on the shelves of their local convenience store; of the cheap and decidedly dismal stuff of lost weekends and discarded personal dignity.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Dec 12, 2008

A guide to buying your wine online in Japan

Enotecawww.enoteca.co.jp

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Dec 12, 2008

Reasonable reds to warm up winter

What with the terrible economic climate and those cold winds blowing down from Siberia, it makes sense to weather out this winter snuggled up in a warm blanket with a nice bottle of red wine and a good novel. In this spirit, we've made the rounds of the stores searching for bargain reds that will raise your spirits but won't ruin your finances. So dust off your copy of "War and Peace" and hunker down with our guide to reasonably priced reds.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 21, 2008

Juana Molina: 'Music overwhelms me'

On the cover of her latest album, "Un Dia," Juana Molina's face is distorted beyond all recognition; the effect is both intriguing and disturbing.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Nov 14, 2008

Japanese women in the wine world

"A man's approach to drinking is totally different from a woman's: Men think about color, what grapes were used, compare the taste and consider its place of origin. Women think about what kind of food a wine will go well with, where we might like to drink it, the kind of company it'd be good to drink with — whether it's a wine to drink with a lover or a friend."

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Oct 10, 2008

A sensitive grape for a superb wine

A delicate, thin skin, in constant need of attention, sensitive to extremes of climate: The Pinot Noir is the pampered princess of grape varieties.

LIFE / Food & Drink

Oct 10, 2008

A little Cali in salaryman central

Wine quite literally takes center stage at Wine Kurasu (Wine Crow) in Shinbashi. Tables are spotlighted dramatically so that rich ruby colors spill out from your wine glass onto the white surface, while the customers sit back under softer lighting and get to the business of contemplating the subtle play of flavors at work. The hushed and almost reverent hum of conversation contributes to a nearly religious atmosphere.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Sep 12, 2008

Rioja on the rise

Next month sees a radical change in the look of the Rioja logo regularly embossed on bottles of the Spanish vintage. La Rioja Denominacion de Origen Clasificada authorities have chosen to throw out the rather fusty image of a stamp (complete with wobbly lines) and replace it with something altogether more modern: a stylized rendering of a Tempranillo grape plant atop some funky lettering.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Cultural properties:A Fujiya Hotel insider’s view

Cultural properties:A Fujiya Hotel insider’s view

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