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November 04, 2025
 

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Robbie Swinnerton
Robbie Swinnerton has been living, eating and writing about food in Tokyo for over 30 years. His column, Tokyo Food File, has run in The Japan Times since 1998.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 15, 2012
Hard cheese? Not at Shibuya Cheese Stand
Who says you need pastures and milk cows if you want to produce cheese? Why not churn it out where demand is highest, right in the middle of the city? That is the admirable, out-of-the-box thinking underlying Shibuya Cheese Stand, which opened earlier this month just a short stroll from the heart of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 15, 2012
Takazawa: Food for all the senses
Ever since chef Yoshiaki Takazawa opened his bijou restaurant back in 2005, it has been one of Tokyo's most intriguing secrets, more talked about than actually visited. Lauded more loudly abroad than here in Japan, its mystique has been fueled by the setting, the scale and a palpable sense of exclusivity....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2012
The tastiest pasta is always made by hand
There's nothing quite so satisfying as fresh-made pasta. Spaghetti out of the packet is only as good as the sauce that's served over it. But freshly rolled pasta, whether it comes as strips, strings, bows or curlicues, has a texture, taste and vitality all its own.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2012
Cucina Tredici Aprile: Rustic Italian fare, served in seclusion
Quick, before the wonderful spring weather turns to rain and then to sweltering summer. It's the perfect season for long, leisurely alfresco lunches: Time to book that peaceful verdant patio table at Cucina Tredici Aprile.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2012
Fuglen: Serve yourself at an Oslo import
Just as the daytime staff are trained baristas — and they pull an excellent espresso using their own proprietary roast of beans — the evening crew specialize in mixology.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2012
Tonki: Dishing up 73 years of tasty tonkatsu success
Nowhere does tonkatsu like Tonki. Of all the restaurants in Tokyo that serve those ever-popular cutlets of breaded, deep-fried pork — and they number in their thousands — nowhere stands out quite the way Tonki does.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2012
Akasaka's Taj serves up light Indian street food
In the early 1980s, you could count the number of Indian restaurants in Tokyo on the fingers of one hand. Top of that list, by dint of its size, prestige and the standard of the cuisine, was The Taj, close to Akasaka-Mitsuke. Sadly it went under, following a fire.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2012
Nirvanam: Savor the subtle spice of South Indian cuisine
What's the best season for eating Indian food? Summer, when all the spices help you sweat out Tokyo's clammy heat? Or in the chill of winter, to put fire in your belly? The answer: Any time at all, if the cooking is as consistently good as it is at Nirvanam.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 20, 2012
L'As: New French restaurant does things differently
It is always a pleasure to discover a great new restaurant — and even more so when "new" means a lot more than just "recently opened." L'As is a small place with a young crew and a location that is easy to overlook. But since opening in early February in the backstreets of Minami-Aoyama, it's been...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012
Kita-Kamakura En: Kaiseki course as delicate as blossom
It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has liftoff. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important cherry blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012
Innsyoutei: Where to wander for a springtime sakura snack
The pink mist descends and sakura fever sets in. Resistance is futile: Get out there under the petals, gaze, imbibe, revel and cavort. And then, as the evening chill sets in — as it inevitably does at this time of year — adjourn for dinner. Here are a few places close to key hanami (blossom-viewing)...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2012
Yoshihashi: Top-class sukiyaki at a fraction of the price
Elegance, refinement, exclusivity: These are qualities only to be expected at any high-end Japanese restaurant. Affordability? Think again. Or, rather, think different. That's the way to approach Yoshihashi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2012
Michinoku: Tohoku restaurant serves up a northeastern menu
Zunda-mochi dumplings, hatto-jiru soup, hittsumi noodles: These are far from mainstream Japanese foods, and rarely found on restaurant menus. But they're essential landmarks on the culinary landscape of the Tohoku region. They are also core items on the menu at Michinoku, one of the very few eateries...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2012
Iri: Hidden pan-European eatery is one of a kind
Neighborhood restaurants are different from those where the lights are brighter and overheads (and expectations) higher. Almost by definition they're more casual and down-home, rougher around the edges, simpler and less stylish. Iri doesn't fit that pattern at all.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2012
Soi 7: Meanwhile, elsewhere in Yoyogi-Uehara ...
Neighborhoods are like microclimates, each with its own ecology of dining opportunities. Some are arid desserts with barely a ramen shop in sight. Others are lush and fertile, with a rich range of cuisines and styles. And then there are the hidden corners, seemingly overlooked, that sprout an improbably...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2012
L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele: Naples pizzeria serves up a slice of heaven
Is Tokyo becoming the Naples of Asia? It's starting to feel that way, and not just because there's a volcano lurking on the horizon. There must be as many artisan pizzerias here as in all of Campania, ranging in quality from worthy to excellent.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2012
New Fish House claims east Ebisu as its oyster
First the sad news: One of Ebisu's finest, friendliest little French restaurants has upped and moved to the far side of town. Now the silver lining: Those selfsame pint-sized premises have reincarnated as a branch of Ebisu's finest, friendliest oyster emporium. Just six weeks since saying au revoir to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2012
Kanda is crammed with revered restaurants
The narrow pocket of Kanda comprising Sudacho and Awajicho boasts half a dozen restaurants that are among the most venerable in Tokyo. Like Botan, the buildings date from the late 1920s, boast superb wooden architecture and have improbably survived the bombs of war and the clutches of the redevelopers....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2012
Botan: Put a little sukiyaki fire in your belly
On one side of the battered shōji screen with its panels of flimsy washi paper, the sleet and biting wind. On the other, a small old-fashioned hibachi brazier, its coals glowing softly. There's no contest: At Botan, the charcoal wins every time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2012
Code kurkku: Kyoto-Italian cuisine in Yoyogi Village
Long before you sit down to dine at code kurkku, before you even glimpse its splendid glass-fronted facade, you know already you're going to love it. How could you not? It has everything going for it.
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
A narrow Pacific waterway at heart of U.S. plans to choke China’s vast navy
Philippine and Australian troops fire an M777 howitzer during live fire exercises as part of joint military drills in Laur, Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, in August.
Trump would make U.S. Supreme Court history by attending tariffs case
There is no record in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 235-year history of a sitting president ever attending arguments, according to Clare Cushman, director of publications and resident historian at the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Dodgers clinch back-to-back World Series titles as Blue Jays downed in thriller
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and teammates celebrate after winning the World Series against the Blue Jays. Yamamoto was named MVP for the series.
How airlines are refining their in-flight food in Japan's tourism boom
All Nippon Airways' gourmet program, The Connoisseurs, showcases the Japanese concept of "shun" (peak season for ingredients), giving passengers a preview of the refined cuisine that awaits them in Japan.
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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