J.J. O'Donoghue - The Japan Times

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J.J. O'Donoghue

For J.J. O'Donoghue's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Mar 11, 2016

Ajikyu: A tiny izakaya squashed inside a family home

Reviewing restaurants is a slippery slope to overindulgence. That's why opting for lunch can be a safer bet than dinner. Not only are lunch reservations easier to come by and the bills easier on the wallet, but midday meals help to ensure you getting home before sunset, or sunrise. That didn't happen...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Mar 11, 2016

Miyako Yasai Kamo Nasu: All the locally grown vegetables you can eat

Miyako Yasai Kamo Nasu — a mouthful if ever there was one — is a chain of buffet restaurants offering all-you-can-eat vegetables for breakfast (¥490), lunch (¥880) and dinner (¥1,350).

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Feb 26, 2016

Oimatsu Kitagawa: A moment of calm in a swirling galaxy of Michelin stars

Toru Kitagawa, the chef and owner of Oimatsu Kitagawa, has a casual air about him that borders on insouciance — an air that belies the imagination, creativity and earnestness of his cooking. Perhaps this equanimity is an Osaka trait, but it could just have easily been cultivated at Gion Sasaki, the...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Feb 26, 2016

Gokan: Tea and cake for modernist samurai

In Kitahama, just north of Umeda, there are two rather stately teahouses within cake-throwing distance of each other. Kitahama Retro is where you'll want to go if you like crustless cucumber sandwiches, afternoon tea and Edwardian cosplay. But don't let the pretense fool you, it's a great teahouse.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Feb 13, 2016

Lisako Fukuda-NiChionnaith: 'What you play reflects your real personality'

Japanese musician on the relationship between Irish music and communication

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Feb 12, 2016

Muraki: Handmade soba in a tavern for hobbits

There's a hobbit-in-the-Shire feeling in Muraki, a homely husband-and-wife run soba restaurant west of Kyoto city. The entrance is uncharacteristically marked not by traditional noren curtains but sliding wooden doors — the ki in Muraki is the Chinese character for tree or wood. The arboreal theme...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Feb 12, 2016

Tsukijisay: Enjoy seasonal sushi without breaking the bank

Tsukijisay has been serving sushi since almost as long as nigiri (sushi with vinegared rice) has been around — the original restaurant is more than 125 years old, a time when this venerable fast food was still in its infancy. As the restaurant name suggests, the origin of Tsukijisay is the historic...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Jan 29, 2016

Rikyu: Playing games with traditional 'kaiseki' cuisine

Tsukasa Yamaguchi likes to play. But not much of what he does behind the counter of Rikyo, which he opened nearly two years ago, suggests this. Like many of his contemporaries working in haute cuisine restaurants, Yamaguchi has the manner and intensity of a surgeon. If you look closely, you'll see his...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Jan 29, 2016

Kashmir: An austere setting for a flamboyant curry

Let's start on the street. That's where I waited in line for an hour before moving to a dark, narrow hallway for another hour of waiting. At infrequent intervals the door to Kashmir would open, allowing in customers and expelling the spicy aromas from within.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Jan 23, 2016

Haruka Kuroda: 'Whatever the situation, listen to your feelings'

U.K.-based Japanese actress on jelly and collaborating with Gorillaz

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Jan 15, 2016

Rikichi: Bowling and the art of traditional Japanese kaiseki

In 2000, Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam wrote "Bowling Alone," a book about the decline of community and rise of individualism in the U.S. I thought about the title of that book over lunch at Rikichi — indeed there was plenty of room for thinking. Not only was I the only diner, but chef...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Jan 15, 2016

Kobushi: Ramen with spinach, chicken and a motorbike

One of the differences between a restaurant chain and an independently owned restaurant is that the latter tolerates — even encourages — eccentricity.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Jan 2, 2016

20 Questions: the best answers of 2015

Japan Times On Sunday contributors select the responses that made them laugh loudest this year

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Dec 25, 2015

Why are Japanese children the healthiest in the world?

In a country where food culture permeates all aspects of life and society, it is perhaps unsurprising that Japan leads the "World Health Olympics," in the words of Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle. In their book, "Secrets of the World's Healthiest Children," the pair proselytize for the traditional diet...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Dec 25, 2015

Kurosugi: A fish doesn't need to be sexy when it's sublime

Without a doubt the worst-named restaurant of the year is London's "Sexy Fish." But, the name — the audacity and stupidity of it — did set me thinking about fish seafood and sexiness (as opposed to fish and sex). Can a fish be sexy? Certainly not. When thinking about fish, "sexy" is one of those...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Dec 25, 2015

Wai Tan Hong Lu Deng: Rowdy waiters and sizzling dumplings

Tenma is one of the best spots in Osaka for food and drink, especially street eats. Japan's longest shōtengai (indoor arcade) bisects this eating area, along which there are dozens of restaurants and stalls, serving local savory treats. But get off the main drag and there's even more to offer. A word...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Dec 11, 2015

Sakuya: One of the old capital's best traditional lunches

On a mundane street in northern Kyoto is an excellent soba restaurant called Nicolas. Farther down the road, tucked under a nondescript apartment block, is Sakuya, a kappo (counter-style restaurant), which serves a variety of traditional Japanese food. There is no menu to speak of, but I wouldn't be...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS

Dec 11, 2015

Ippodo: Enjoying tea without tradition

Japanese tea can be beguiling and bitter. And the ceremonial tradition that surrounds it can be disconcerting and dull.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Nov 27, 2015

Aozora Blue: Where perfectly simple udon noodles get the spotlight

Ramen, soba and udon are the trinity of Japan's noodles, though it can sometimes feel as if the last one on that list is underappreciated. Ramen has followed sushi down the path of global domination — no doubt helped by instant ramen's popularity — and buckwheat soba noodles can swing from low to...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS

Nov 27, 2015

Tashinami: Seasonal Japanese dining at a tiny horseshoe-shaped counter

Located in the bowels of Osaka Station City, Tashinami only has room for about eight diners at its horseshoe-shaped counter. All that separates you from the surrounding shops in the basement food hall is a see-through beaded curtain, meaning you, as well as what you eat, are on show. Furthermore, owing...

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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