The house is cleaned, the yard swept, the auspicious kadomatsu pine decorations in their place by the door. All that's left to be done is to slurp the New Year's toshikoshi soba noodles, to give thanks for another bumper year of superlative dining, and to wish all Japan Times readers good health and great eating in 2018!
New faces and happy returns
Of the scores of hot new restaurants that have illuminated Tokyo these past 12 months, two that burned the brightest actually arrived at the tail end of 2016. But there's no reason why they — and their talented young chefs — should be overlooked just because they arrived a few days too early.