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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
Mar 3, 2015
Takazawa adds Akasaka bar to his name
Great news: Chef Yoshiaki Takazawa has opened a bar. This is fantastic for all those who know the beautiful bijou, high-end restaurant in Akasaka that bears his name. Revered by visiting gourmets, it is one of the hardest tables in town to book. Now, we all can sample his cuisine in a more accessible...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 3, 2015
A long, leisurely lunch leaves no doubts at Chic Peut-etre
Let's hear it for lunch. Long, leisurely sessions at the table, with multiple courses and an equal number of wines to go with them. And then at the end, lingering over coffee and conversation. That's the way it happens every Saturday at Chic Peut-etre.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 24, 2015
Top French chef says fundamentals are key to selling washoku to the world
In December 2013, when UNESCO formally recognized washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) as part of the World's Intangible Cultural Heritage, the reaction here was mixed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2015
Masa's Kitchen 47 defies stereotypes with bold take on Chinese cuisine
Gleaming white tableware, understated decor and not a single dragon or red lantern in sight: Masa's Kitchen 47 boldly defies the stereotype for Chinese restaurants in Tokyo. Which is just as it should be. So does the food.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2015
A little shiokara goes a long way at Surugaya Kahei
The specialty at this little counter-type sake bar is shiokara, the salty, odoriferous innards of assorted seafood.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2015
Tuck into tradition at Nabeya
Is there any food more comforting and satisfying than a nabe? Sitting around a bubbling casserole watching your dinner cook satisfies all the senses, nourishing the soul as you fill and heat your body. So why aren't there more places like Nabeya?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2015
A night at Camp to write home about
Curry rice isn't meant to be healthy any more than it's supposed to be spicy. It's a carb-laden comfort food, a cheap and filling staple of students and singletons. Obviously the folks at Camp never got the memo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2015
Noma's take on a Japanese menu is bold
After a drumroll of media announcements, a steady drip of social media speculation and the crescendo of anticipation, Noma Japan has finally opened. Denmark's preeminent restaurant has begun its month-long residency in Tokyo, and it's every bit as remarkable as expected.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2015
Top chef Yoshihiro Narisawa takes his kitchen to go
Have you heard? There's a Michelin two-star chef running a two-month pop-up in central Tokyo. But this one is not inside a plush, high-rise hotel. It's a food truck — or kicchin kā (kitchen car), as they're known here — and it's the brainchild of one of Japan's most renowned chefs, Yoshihiro Narisawa....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015
Redzepi: 'I think the restaurant staff in Japan are some of the best on Earth'
Last year, while still only halfway through the extensive planning process, Noma chef Rene Redzepi sat down with The Japan Times in the extensive test kitchen above his Copenhagen waterfront restaurant and outlined his reasons and vision for Noma in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015
It's a mad, MAD world for committed chefs
Most chefs prefer to let their food do the talking. If they have anything else to say, it goes into a cookbook. But for Rene Redzepi there is far too much to be discussed — above and beyond the brilliant, inventive dishes he serves at his restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen and (temporarily) in Tokyo....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015
Noma sets the table for a feast in Tokyo
As the clock inches toward midday on Jan. 9, the eyes and attention of gourmets around the world will be focused on Tokyo. The reason: The curtain is rising on one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings ever.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2015
Ringing in the new year with some old favorites
What better way to start the New Year than by looking back? After all, how can we move ahead if we don't know the past? Here are five classic Tokyo ryoriya (restaurants) where tradition rules and the roots of today's food culture live on.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 16, 2014
Pirouette, Craft Beer Market and more: some great new openings in Tokyo in 2014
The festive season is upon us, and 2015 beckons. But before we move on, herded into the Year of the Sheep, it's time to pause, celebrate and give thanks for the abundance of fine eating over the past 12 months.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 2, 2014
Heinz Beck brings his Michelin-star flavors to Tokyo
Just in time for the festive season, Tokyo has been given a timely infusion of fine dining. And it has everything going for it: plush designer decor, one of the best locations in the city center (overlooking the Imperial Palace moat) and modern Italian cuisine from one of Europe's top chefs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 2, 2014
Ramen makes progress at Gonokami Suisan
Change comes in subtle increments in the ramen world, rarely in sudden leaps. That's why it was exciting to discover Gonokami Suisan and its hip, young crew earlier this year in the backstreets north of Kanda Station. Last December when it opened, lines formed around the block to sample the trademark...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2014
Toyoken: Narisawa's take on 'yoshoku' cuisine
Curry-rice, menchi-katsu cutlet, kani (crab) cream croquette, and kaki (oyster) fry... Dinner at Toyoken reads like a roll call of retro comfort food from a long-passed era — but with one big difference.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2014
Lizarran: Spanish 'pinchos' means a new taste with every bite
Sometimes you just want a snack, a light bite, a nibble with a glass of something red or white. Nowhere has that figured out better than Spain, with its tapas culture. And nobody in Spain does it with more elan than the Basques, with their variation known as pinchos. That's the kind they serve at Lizarran....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2014
Kanda Yabu Soba: Renowned soba restaurant reborn from the flames
Slurping and celebration: Those were the sounds emanating from Tokyo's historic Awajicho district late last month. The reason: Kanda Yabu Soba has risen from the ashes (literally) and is back open for business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2014
Nakamura Shokudo: Eclectic izakaya dining in Akasaka
If you're after sushi, tempura or yakitori, you head for a specialist restaurant. The same goes for eel, tonkatsu pork or wagyū beef. But what if you'd rather mix it up at dinnertime with a more eclectic selection of foods? No problem. Just head to a good izakaya.
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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