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January 14, 2025
 

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Melinda Joe

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Melinda Joe
Melinda Joe is an American journalist in Tokyo. A certified wine and sake professional, she writes about Japanese drinks in her Kanpai Culture column for The Japan Times and blogs at tokyodrinkingglass.blogspot.com.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2017
Whirlwind wine romance led to a brand of her own
Early in her career, winemaker Atsuko Radcliffe aspired to brew sake. Fate, however, had other plans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 28, 2017
Top Philippines chef Margarita Fores chows down like a local in Tokyo
Margarita Fores was recently in Japan to give Tokyoites a taste of her Italian-inflected Philippine cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 7, 2017
'Doburoku': Reviving a rustic sake tradition
Sachio Egawa is a Renaissance man of sorts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 7, 2017
Spanish chef Eneko Atxa: 'You have to break a lot of plates before you can dance with them'
Eco-friendly Basque chef on the opening of his new Tokyo eatery.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 30, 2017
Slovenia's Ana Ros on Japanese cuisine and gender equality among chefs
Early one September morning, Ana Ros, Slovenia's most famous chef, is receiving a crash course in Japanese seafood at Tsukiji fish market.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 9, 2017
Tokuyoshi adds some creative cocktails to the mix
Japanese chef Yoji Tokuyoshi has been pushing boundaries with cuisine that reflects his philosophy of intercultural cross-pollination since 2015 — the year he opened his eponymous restaurant, Tokuyoshi, in Milan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 5, 2017
Suhring twins bring new German cuisine to Tokyo
Few had heard of new German cuisine when twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Suhring began serving elevated takes on kazespatle (Bavarian pasta made with cheese) and smoked trout at their restaurant, Suhring, in Bangkok, at the start of last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 8, 2017
Enterprising Aomori apple farmer pivots to boutique hard cider
On a steamy June afternoon, the apple trees in the Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture are laden with fruit. Now, the young apples are hard green spheres the size of golf balls, but come autumn they will be plump, sweet and ready for harvest.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 24, 2017
Entertainment entrepreneur Steve Plotnicki: 'Learn how to analyze what you're eating'
Opinionated About Dining founder on his musical background, algorithms and what makes a decent restaurant critic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 10, 2017
Association aims to raise the profile of sparkling sake
Around the world, the sound of popping corks brings just one thing to mind — Champagne. However, a new organization of sake producers is working to tweak that image.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 13, 2017
Brut Wine Bar pop-up brings taste of Israel to Tokyo
On a cool afternoon in mid-April, Israeli chefs Yair Yosefi and Omer Ben-Gal, co-founders of Brut Wine Bar in Tel Aviv, examine a shipment of fresh silver-skinned sawara (Spanish mackerel) from Tottori Prefecture in a tiny kitchen on Cat Street — in the middle of Tokyo's bustling Harajuku neighborhood....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 8, 2017
Japanese sake startup finds way to float in sinking industry
Entrepreneur Nao Kohara sits at a table in his favorite neighborhood bar, checking emails on his laptop computer and sipping a glass of sake.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 11, 2017
Restaurateur Danny Meyer: ‘Hospitality is a dialog; service is a monologue’
American restaurateur on tipping and the rise of fast-dining establishments.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 10, 2017
Hidehiko Ishizuka takes his love of sake on tour in streaming TV series
Gourmandizing television personality Hidehiko Ishizuka has a famously large appetite. Apparently, the portly comedian also has a taste for Japanese sake. On a clear February afternoon in the sake-producing region of Fushimi, just south of Kyoto, a camera crew forms a tight circle around Ishizuka as he...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 3, 2017
Japan's culinary professionals rank high at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards
On the evening of Feb. 21, chefs from nine of Japan's top restaurants ascended the stage to receive honors at the fifth Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Bangkok.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 10, 2017
Sake sommelier unlocks the fun of 'nihonshu' for visitors from abroad
Every week, sake sommelier Satoko Utsugi leads groups of overseas visitors past the Fukagawa Fudosan Temple and along a shopping street in Tokyo's downtown neighborhood of Monzen-Nakacho.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 13, 2017
Ginza sushi restaurant tests Champagne pairing
Nothing says "festive" like Champagne, that most elegant of elixirs. The drink's life-affirming effervescence makes it a natural choice for New Year's celebrations, but Champagne pairs so well with many of my favorite foods that I drink it far more often than once a year — with everything from raw...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 9, 2016
Tokyo's progressive French restaurants are developing a taste for sake
The first time I drank sake at a non-Japanese restaurant was nearly seven years ago at Coi, a Michelin-starred establishment in San Francisco that serves modern Californian cuisine. I had opted for the beverage-pairing course, and the drink came with a dish of tofu mousseline in a thickened mushroom...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2016
The Kyoto Distillery: home of Japan's first artisanal gin
It's a mild Kyoto evening, and a group of spirits enthusiasts are gathering at a handsomely restored machiya (traditional townhouse) to celebrate the launch of Ki No Bi, a boutique gin produced by The Kyoto Distillery, Japan's first craft gin specialist. Guests spill onto the machiya's moss-covered courtyard,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 10, 2016
A short walk from the garden: Belgian chef Gert De Mangeleer is succeeding in self-sufficiency
During the mild months of early summer, the garden at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Hertog Jan — located 20 minutes outside of the Belgian city of Bruges — is in full bloom. The pale orange outlines of butternut squash peek out from beneath a thick cover of wide, flat leaves. Radishes grow...
Strong quake strikes southwestern Japan
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck southwestern Japan at 9:19 p.m. on Monday evening
Isekai anime offers a key to understanding globalization
“The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” centers on three teenage protagonists who are transported into a fantasy world where they must grapple with a foreign culture.
Japan top diplomat visits South Korea amid political turmoil in Seoul
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, shake hands during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Monday.
30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
Osaka Expo kicks off pavilion reservation lottery amid sales concerns
The mascot character of the Osaka Expo promotes the event at Tokyo's Haneda Airport last week.
Due north: Foreign-born guides introduce Hokkaido’s unique charms
Lantoko, a company operated by Taiwan native Ping-Fang Lan, offers drift ice walking tours and other exhilarating experiences in and around Shiretoko National Park.
30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
The unnervingly timed return of ‘Squid Game’
In season two of "Squid Game," protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) returns to put an end to the deadly competition.
Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
‘Dorayaki’ creators say flavors trump the dessert’s murky origins
'Dorayaki' (red bean paste-filled pancakes) are humble treats with delicate sweetness — and the two Tokyo shops who may have created the treat are similarly light-handed in the way they pursue their claims as the originator of the morsel.

Podcast

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

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?
By Tomoko Otake

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