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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
Jul 13, 2019
Yamagata sake shines on the international stage
On a recent balmy evening, representatives from nine sake breweries in Yamagata Prefecture, clad in understated kimono, bow modestly onstage amid the glow of pink and lavender lights. The bling-drenched ballroom also boasts gold-covered walls and a bold red carpet adorned with a dizzying pattern of colorful fans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 8, 2019
Yummy Sake Collective: A new pairing of blind tasting and AI tech
Yummy Sake Collective has a solution for people who struggle to identify what sake they like: An AI-powered app, used in conjunction with a blind tasting, to help determine flavor preferences.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 11, 2019
Phoenix Sake Collection: A tribute to music 'n' sake
In collaboration with brewery Tatenokawa, Inc., rock band Phoenix has released the Phoenix Sake Collection to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 13, 2019
Sushi M: Shaking up the world of sushi through sake pairings
Ever since he was a young chef in his early 20s, Michimasa Nakamura has wanted to shake things up in the world of sushi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2019
Tokyo-based pastry chef named Asia's best
Patissier Fabrizio Fiorani was named Asia's Best Pastry Chef at the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Macau on March 26.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 9, 2019
Are native grape varieties the key to Japan's burgeoning wine industry?
Thanks to improved technology, greater winemaking know-how and an increased focus on native grape varieties, local wines have gone from sickly sweet to sophisticated and mature.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 16, 2019
Cacao: Sensory infusions of chocolate and alcohol
Journey Company, the first international brand to carry Colombia's official mark of approval for their chocolates, collaborates with Japanese artisans to release limited-edition sweets infused with flavors like matcha green tea and umeshu (plum wine). To further the sensory experience, at their Chocolate Bank in Kamakura they offer after-hours chocolate and alcohol pairings at a tiny bar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 9, 2019
Cacao Hunters knows where the best chocolate is: Colombia
Cacao Hunters Japan partners with indigenous communities in Colombia to source heirloom varieties of cacao — and provide farmers with stable, high incomes — for the Cacao Hunters line of premium chocolates.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 12, 2019
A new year taste for Tokyo's best speciality sake bars
With the start of a new year comes a new set of resolutions. An increasingly popular choice is Dry January, a campaign led by the British charity Alcohol Change UK, in which participants vow to abstain from drinking for 31 days. Millions of people around the world have been documenting their virtuous endeavours online with the hashtag #DryJanuary.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 1, 2018
At Ikoyi, Philosopher-chef Jeremy Chan gets to the core of deliciousness
The word 'intense' is frequently used by friends and colleagues to describe Jeremy Chan, the 31-year-old philosopher-chef behind restaurant Ikoyi, which serves global interpretations of West African cuisine in the center of London.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 24, 2018
Pheasant's Tears: Preserving Georgia's wine tradition
On Dec. 1 and 2, John Wurdeman will visit Japan with a group of Georgian wine producers to participate in the first Tokyo edition of Rootstock, Sydney's popular natural wine festival. He's not sure if they will sing, but one thing is certain: There will be no shortage of viniferous magic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 10, 2018
The SG Club: Cocktail history in the making
Shingo Gokan's new bar in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, The SG Club, is a living piece of historical fiction that delights in cross-cultural references. The initials 'SG' stand for Sip and Guzzle, and the space is divided into two bars, each with a different vibe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 13, 2018
Sake embeds itself abroad with new U.K. brewery
Dojima Sake Brewery, which opened this past September on the grounds of Fordham Abbey, about an hour outside of London, is brewing quality Japanese sake in a chic, contemporary setting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 22, 2018
For Tohru Nakamura, fusion is in the blood, not just the food
At Geisels Werneckhof in Munich, Tohru Nakamura — whose father is from Japan and mother is from Germany — displays his bicultural heritage to winning effect, in a style that combines Japanese and German traditions in subtle yet surprising ways.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 8, 2018
Cheers to beers connecting northern Europe and Japan
J.L.S. Trading imports an eclectic range of craft beers from various microbreweries in the Baltics and Scandinavia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 18, 2018
Belon chef to showcase his cooking in Tokyo collab
Known for his precise, classically French approach to cooking, Daniel Calvert will join Yusuke Namai of restaurant Ode in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward for a collaboration dinner on August 29.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 11, 2018
New brews from old Tokyo
Tokyo-area craft sake breweries gather to celebrate local specialties at the Greater Tokyo Sake Festival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Jul 21, 2018
For chef Shinobu Namae, cutting waste is priority
At cafe Bricolage Bread & Co. and restaurant L'Effervescence, chef Shinobu Namae is finding creative ways to reduce and repurpose food waste.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 7, 2018
At Mugaritz, sommelier Guillermo Cruz pairs sake and the avant-garde
Although Basque Country in Spain might not be your first thought when it comes to Japanese brews, two-Michelin-star Mugaritz is helping diners fall in love with sake by offering multiple pairings with each imaginative dish.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 9, 2018
It's not what's in the glass of sake, it's the glass itself
Riedel's new Junmai Glass elevates drinking junmai, or 'pure rice,' sake to a multisensory experience.
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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