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J.J. O'Donoghue
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Feb 25, 2014
Sobakiri Karani: The noodle shop you wouldn't suspect
The only clue that this is a soba shop is from the inscription on the noren curtain, but even that I didn't notice until leaving. That's not to say while passing by you don't slow down and look inside in wonder. I had pegged it as a hipster joint; there was an expensive fixed-wheel bicycle chained up...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Feb 11, 2014
Okudohan: Fresh ingredients would be on the menu if there was one
In the hierarchy of Kyo ryōri, or Kyoto cuisine, obansai is at the bottom. Essentially it is home cooking that has wound its way from the homestead to the restaurant. At Okudohan it remains uncomplicated and comforting — as it should be.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 11, 2014
Greenhouse CoLLabo: A peaceful retreat in Umekoji Park
Umekoji Park, near Kyoto Station, has in recent years been through more makeovers than a beauty queen. The park is already home to the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum and Kyoto Aquarium, and now the builders are working on an enormous playground. Occupying a quiet corner of the park, Greenhouse CoLLabo...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jan 21, 2014
Curry the Irish way (it's full of Guinness)
Almost 20 years ago there appeared on The New York Times best-seller list a book titled 'How the Irish Saved Civilization.' To most Irish people this benign feat was not news.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jan 21, 2014
At Ikkaku, it's fine to ask a chicken its age
Ikkaku is located in a 12-story building with more bars and restaurants than I imagine there are in most towns in West Texas or West Cork. And the building is in Shinsaibashi, which probably has more places to eat and drink than all of Wyoming. This is, after all, Osaka, the city that celebrates over-indulgence...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jan 7, 2014
Harimaya: Remember this one, baby
For lunch at Harimaya I was joined by my son, who was celebrating a birthday, of sorts. Six months. He's a good kid, but let's face it, he's a baby — so a six-course lunch could have been more a pain than a pleasure.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Jan 7, 2014
Hagi: Real-deal burgers from 1970
There can be no doubting that Snow White's beauty derived in part from the Seven Dwarfs' lack of it. But what they lacked in looks, they made up for in charm. This is how you should approach Hagi, a cafe of considerable charm and irretrievable beauty. Located beside a storm drain in a drab neighborhood...

Longform

Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh