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April 30, 2024
 

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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.
For Robbie Swinnerton's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 26, 2020
Top 5: Food trends our critics want to see Japan embrace in 2021
Eyes (and stomachs) are already turning to 2021. Five of The Japan Times' critics share the dining trends they'd like to see the country embrace.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2020
The pandemic didn’t stop Tokyo’s foodies from dining out in 2020
The capital's restaurant scene saw plenty of culinary highlights that helped bring notes of optimism and positivity to a difficult year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 6, 2020
Ginza Hachigo: Tokyo’s rising ramen star
From word-of-mouth favorite to media darling, this is one of the city's most unusual and excellent bowls, with a compelling backstory to boot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 28, 2020
A genteel craft beer crawl through Kamakura
Being a tourist can be thirsty work, even in the genteel surrounds of Kamakura. Here are six of the former samurai capital's best watering holes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 14, 2020
The Upper: Tokyo’s newest arrival is peak fine dining
Restaurant group Transit General Office has outdone itself in its new space, with a transportive menu devised by Michelin-starred chef Yusuke Takada.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 31, 2020
Shoto Lamp carries on a shining culinary lineage
Nobuhiro Kakinoki may have opened his restaurant during troubled times, but all the essential elements are in his favor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 31, 2020
Sowado: Inscrutable facade conceals upscale izakaya
Tokyo restaurants don't get harder to book than chef Hideaki Sakai's highly anticipated second venue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 24, 2020
Top 5: Tokyo’s best soba restaurants
Soba noodles are Tokyo's original fast food, simple and filling. Whether you prefer them hot or cold, here's five soba shops worth a trek across town.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2020
At Bistro Nemot, a L’Effervescence alum spreads his wings
Norihito Nemoto's upscale bistro fare makes his laid-back restaurant one of the highlights of the still new and vibrant Eat Play Works complex.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2020
Whether in curry or gelato, Kalpasi’s spice blends are aromatic — and intriguing
Curry has been Tokyo's go-to comfort food this summer, and Curry Spice Gelateria Kalpasi's low-key June arrival hit the moment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 3, 2020
Denkushiflori: Den and Florilege collaboration drives Tokyo’s hottest opening
Two of Tokyo's hottest chefs. A menu tethering contemporary Japanese to modern French cuisine. Tokyo has never seen an opening like Denkushiflori.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2020
Sincere Blue makes the case for sustainable seafood
Sincere Blue is Shinsuke Ishii's way of demonstrating that a French restaurant can offer seafood dishes that are sustainable, delicious and affordable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2020
Noodle Stand Tokyo: ‘Ethical ramen’ in a freshly fashionable setting
The new Jingumae Comichi yokochu014d is an alluring space to while away the hours after work or on weekends.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2020
Rise & Win: A victory for beer lovers (and sustainability)
Rise & Win beer is brewed in the zero-waste town of Kamikatsu, and that philosophy is built into the foundation of its brewery and Tokyo taproom.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2020
Hasegawa Saketen Gransta: A sake lover's boon beneath Tokyo Station
Hasegawa Saketen's reborn Tokyo Station branch is larger, sleeker and even better stocked. It even boasts a new in-house sake microbrewery.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 29, 2020
Elegies and excitement in Tokyo’s dining landscape
Tokyo Food File wraps up summer 2020 with a look at how Tokyo's dining scene is shaping up in Year One of COVID-19.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 19, 2020
Episode 61: Tough times for Tokyo, the world's dining capital
With more Michelin stars than any other city in the world, Tokyo is something of a dining mecca. But in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has turned Tokyo's restaurant and hospitality industry on its head.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2020
Omnipollos Tokyo: A bold, boozy newcomer to the craft beer scene
Omnipollo is no run-of-the-mill craft beer company, and its first Japanese outpost, Omnipollos Tokyo, lives up to the brand's quirky reputation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 15, 2020
Chef Kyohei Nishi spreads his wings at Neki
Tokyo's Kabutocho neighborhood is undergoing a much-needed revitalization, and no development is more exciting and welcome than Neki.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 1, 2020
Gracia: Modern Spanish gastrobar dining in Hiroo
At gastrobar Gracia, chef Jerome Quilbeuf is serving up top-notch Catalan cuisine.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

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

Longform

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

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo
Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

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