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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 7, 2013
Eatrip: A healthy diet of peace and quiet
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Jun 7, 2013
Japanese desserts with an alcohol kick
"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."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / FOOD MATTERS
May 31, 2013
Gourmet food for cheap, if you can stand for it
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 bottom line.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 17, 2013
Katsuzen: Ginza offers tonkatsu that's a cutlet above
Tonkatsu is comfort food, gourmand grub — not a gourmet delicacy. So what are those hearty, unpretentious deep-fried breaded pork cutlets doing in an elegant little bar-style restaurant above one of Ginza's temples to high-end consumption?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 3, 2013
Cafe 104.5: The delicious upside to urban development
Onward and upward: Tokyo's ever-changing skyline sprouts new high-rise buildings like bamboo shoots in spring.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
May 3, 2013
Custard treats are anything but square
How long does it take a business to achieve cult status in Tokyo? Years or decades in most cases. For Omotesando Koffee it was barely a matter of weeks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 19, 2013
Abrazo a la Oaxaqueña: Mexican moles under wraps in Shimokitazawa
You never know quite what you're going to find in the busy back alleys of Shimokitazawa. It has music bars and shisha pipe dens, old-school yakitori, the latest in craft beer, tofu doughnuts and bohemian barista coffee. So why not artisan tortillas and mole sauces from the far south of Mexico?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 5, 2013
Akasaka Kikunoi: Tastes of old Kyoto in Tokyo's bustling heart
A pair of ornamental cherry trees stand like attendants by a sturdy wooden gateway. A narrow flagstone path lined with bamboo and maples curves out of sight in the mid-distance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Apr 5, 2013
Springtime sweets come into bloom
The petals may have dropped from the cherry trees, at least in the Tokyo area, but there are plenty of leaves to be seen — and not just on the trees. Look around any shop selling traditional wagashi sweets at this time of year and you'll find cherry leaves in evidence, wrapped around sakura-mochi....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 29, 2013
Dine with a backdrop of cherry blossom
With an ephemeral canopy of pink sweeping Japan, the JT's food writers know the perfect spots to dine with an eyeful of sakura (cherry blossom) — or just the right sake to sip as you picnic under the petals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / FOOD MATTERS
Mar 29, 2013
Fearless foodies? Let them eat dirt
Soil, dirt, mud ... Call it what you like, the not-so-secret special ingredient at some of Japan's high-end restaurants has a distinctly earthy quality. And over the last couple of months, it's been getting substantial media attention, both at home and abroad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 15, 2013
Wana: Pay like a pauper, eat like a lord
"It's still gibier season," proclaims the sign on the street corner outside Wana. And who could argue with that? There's no reason why game meats and wildfowl should only be eaten in winter. If they're readily available, why shouldn't we enjoy them all year round?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 1, 2013
Den: Modern Japanese with a wry twist
Japanese cuisine at its loftiest is elegant and profound. It can be taut as a tea ceremony or exquisite as a furisode kimono. But inventive, irreverent? Only at Den.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Mar 1, 2013
Tea and cakes, the British way
'I am not very fond of sugar and sweet things, and yet I became a pastry chef.' The story of British pu00e2tissiu00e8re Rose Carrarini, whose quote adorns the wall in the growing number of cafe-bakeries that bear her name, is an eye-opener on many levels.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 15, 2013
Teuchisoba Narutomi: Soba and tempura make for a classic combination
Tempura and soba: Separately, they're two essential elements of traditional Japanese food culture. Put them together side by side on the table and they add up to one of the all-time classic dishes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Feb 1, 2013
An experimental approach to afters
Japan's prodigious ability to assimilate, reproduce and then develop homegrown adaptations of products from other cultures is legendary. Why should it be any different when it comes to patisseries?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 1, 2013
Le Verre Vole a Tokyo: Say bonjour to Tokyo's own taste of Paris
The red-framed doors and purple canopy that mark the front of Le Verre Vole a Tokyo are a cheerful sight at any time of year. In the chill dark dead of winter, their glow is even more welcoming, especially if you're arriving on foot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 17, 2013
Convivio: Shinjuku's latest Italian proves itself on the plate
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 for aspiring to loftier sustenance than...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 4, 2013
Misogura Tamayura: Welcome the new year with a taste of tradition
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 are still gems to be found — and Misogura Tamayura...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 28, 2012
2012: Another year of good Tokyo eating
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 visit and compare more than a fraction of even the best restaurants?...
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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