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May 04, 2024
 

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Melinda Joe

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@MelindaJoe

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.
For Melinda Joe's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 29, 2022
Whisky to join gin on the menu at Niseko Distillery
Distillery's Ohoro Gin takes inspiration from its northern surroundings, the name even coming from the Ainu language.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 26, 2021
Brewer and chef team up for an adventure in 'Saketronomy'
Naohiko Noguchi collaborations aim to present Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, as a destination for gastronomic adventures.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2021
Already known for its skiing, Niseko ups the luxury
Already home to top-notch craft beer and cocktails, new investment sees Niseko becoming even more of a five-star destination.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 13, 2021
Think pizza and beer can’t be high-end? The Pizza Bar on 38th says think again.
From November, the acclaimed pizzeria is offering special set menus pairing seasonal pizzas with locally produced wines and beer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 30, 2021
Gucci Osteria Tokyo takes you into a culinary wonderland
The third collaborative restaurant between Massimo Bottura and Gucci has finally opened in Ginza, blending fashion with Italian-Japanese fine dining.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 9, 2021
For Japan’s Champagne lovers, every day is now a cause for celebration
Forget about unsatisfying mocktail pairings: With Tokyo's state of emergency over, it's time to bust out the bubbles. For the best Champagne cart around, head to Sezanne.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 11, 2021
Onigiri for Love: Little packages from chefs with big hearts
Yoshihiro Narisawa and Wagyumafia's Hisato Hamada launched the rice ball charity project as a way to support producers in rural areas and express thanks to Japan's health care workers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 21, 2021
Teetotal no more and order craft alcohol online
The state of emergency may be ongoing, but you can still support Japanese sake and cocktail producers from home by ordering craft alcohol online.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 12, 2021
The secret to this sake’s flavor? Aging it underwater
What started as an experiment has turned into a way for Otokoyama Honten brewery to recover from the 2011 Tohoku triple disaster.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 10, 2021
Go on a ‘sake voyage’ right in Tokyo’s backyard
The Yottemikke Sake Tourism Association entices travelers to explore Utsunomiya's gastronomic delights.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 20, 2021
Sipping spring spirits with all of Tokyo at your feet
Bar Virtu's spring-inspired cocktail lineup is the excuse you need to glam up and escape the humdrum of daily life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 13, 2021
SG Low: A street culture-inspired izakaya gets the speakeasy treatment
SG Group's newest cocktail bar has a pared-down atmosphere, but the food and drinks have a high-class global twist.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 10, 2021
When it comes to sake, a little heat can go a long way
Gone are the days when hot sake implied poor quality, and kanzake is finally taking pride of place at the socially distanced dinner table.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 19, 2020
Sake brewing in 2020: ‘Hard times are going to be with us for a while’
After years of incremental gains due to growing popularity abroad, Japan's sake producers struggled with substantial losses this year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 7, 2020
You, too, can learn from master sake brewers with Taste with the Toji
Looking to support the sake industry during the pandemic, sake educator Simone Maynard created a weekly online event to connect brewery and consumer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 17, 2020
Tokyo’s newest drinks trend? Upscale alcohol-free cocktails.
The low- and zero-proof alcohol trend has hit Japan, and for those who want to abstain without sacrificing flavor, there's no shortage of options.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 10, 2020
Spice Lab Tokyo: Defying expectations of Indian-Japanese fusion cuisine
How does executive chef Tejas Sovani balance the maximalist complexity of Indian recipes with Japanese cuisine's understated grace?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Sep 26, 2020
Japan’s chefs build on the growing market for sustainable seafood
For advocacy group Chefs for the Blue, the long-term goal is to help fish populations return to levels of stability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 12, 2020
It’s time to resurrect the tradition of boozy breakfasts with friends in Tokyo
We all deserve a morning meal cooked to order paired with a craft cocktail. “Kanpai Culture” has you covered with three new cafe-bar hybrids.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 29, 2020
At Est, chef Guillaume Bracaval attempts to answer the question, ‘What is luxury?’
The chef's new French fine-dining restaurant venture opens inside the swanky Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi on Sept. 1.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
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.

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