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J.J. O'Donoghue
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Dec 2, 2017
Akiko Katayama: Making the leap from business to food in NYC
Accountant-turned-food writer rediscovers the Japanese culinary tradition in NYC.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Nov 25, 2017
Imose: An oasis where the soba's worth the wait
Imose, a genteel soba restaurant, boasts a few soba dishes you won't come across too often.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Nov 25, 2017
Taneya: A love letter to mochi in all its wondrous forms
If you're in Umeda and in need of an escape from the crowds, head for Taneya's shop in the Hankyu department store.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 18, 2017
Going electric: Celebrating Japan's powerful e-bikes
With electric bikes accounting for nearly 6 in 10 bicycles manufactured nationwide last year, the future looks especially bright.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Nov 11, 2017
Sushi Shin: Out of the crowd but into the wasabi
Sushi Shin offers a welcome sushi break from the maddening crowds, but they just need to iron out a few wasabi kicks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Nov 11, 2017
Saiin Roasting Factory: Tasty, Quirk and easy on the pocket
The exactitude that barista and coffee roaster Yosuke Yamashita employs in making each cup of coffee extends to the whole operation at his bijou cafe in the western reaches of Kyoto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 1, 2017
Alex Kerr on Japan: From 'voice in the wind' to vindication
A quarter-century after his first book warned Japan of what it had to lose, Alex Kerr feels the nation is finally on the same page.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Oct 21, 2017
Sato no Ie Hanase: Kyoto-level kaiseki for all seasons
At Sato no Ie Hanase, Kyoto's loss is most definitely Osaka's gain.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Oct 21, 2017
Umaiya: Anything you like, as long as it's takoyaki sans mayo
Umaiya is old-school. There are no innovations here, and furthermore there's no mayonnaise, so don't bother asking for it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 21, 2017
'A Brief History of the Samurai': offers thrilling take on Japan's ancient warrior class
On reading Jonathan Clements’ brief history of the samurai, first published in 2010, you can’t help but see parallels with the recent blockbuster television series “Game of Thrones.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2017
'Yuki Means Happiness': A foreign nanny novel set in Japan
Although cultural mores are changing, foreign nannies remain a rarity in Japan compared with many Western countries. Rarer still is the foreign nanny novel set in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Oct 7, 2017
Taj Mahal Everest: Great Nepalese and Indian food
Taj Mahal Everest, an Indian and Nepali restaurant, near the place where the Kyoto Sanga football club plays their home games in the western part of Kyoto, manages to divide their menu fairly between the two neighboring countries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Oct 7, 2017
Kyoto's Nineizaka Starbucks: Novelty location only goes so far
There are nearly 30 Starbucks in the city of Kyoto, but only one of them has a doorman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2017
'Me': Novel explores the psychology of the telephone scam
Charles De Wolf's new understated-but-excellent translation of 2010's "Ore Ore" is sure to bring novelist Tomoyuki Hoshino to a wider audience. "Me" is a bizarre, compelling — and at times confusing — novel, which Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe praised for its "literary thought." Oe awarded the novel...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Sep 23, 2017
Matsushita: Polishing the tradition of fine soba
After living in France for nearly a decade, Toru Matsushita returned to his hometown of Osaka and took up where he left off in the French capital. Before long he was settled back into preparing and serving soba.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Sep 23, 2017
Beer Belly: Minoh's Tenma branch has solid suds, tapas
The first time I had a Minoh beer was on a stool years ago at a makeshift bar out the front of its brewery in the affluent suburb of Osaka that gave the beer its name. Since then, the award-winning brewery has been transformed into a brew house and pub, and they have added a second pub in Tenma, central...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Sep 9, 2017
Tsugu: An upmarket izakaya with a subtle touch
Tsugu is located a few corners from Shijo Karasuma, the main intersection in downtown Kyoto. That said, even when a digital map is just a tap away, finding it through the side streets may prove a little difficult, so look for a statue of a tanuki, the raccoon dog that graces so many stores and restaurants...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Sep 9, 2017
Inakatei: Century-old noodle shop maintains its proud traditions
Inakatei does not look its age. First opened in 1910, or Meiji 43, it's been serving noodles for more than a century. A makeover a few years back gave it a modern Japanese touch: wood finishing and furnishings abound, while the communal table near the open kitchen is filled with vases of flowers all...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Sep 2, 2017
Takamichi Saeki styles his own American dream
For Takamichi Saeki, the road to becoming a hair stylist and running a salon started out in the art world, working as a gallery assistant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Aug 26, 2017
Southern Peas: A little slice of New Orleans
Chef Katsutoshi Uezoma first discovered New Orleans while on a trip to New York.

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