Shinjuku is, in many ways, the center of Japan. It’s the seat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, home to the busiest train station in the world and has been immortalized countless times in film and literature. For many first-timers, a night in this frenetic ...

We need to talk about calories. They are, in the words of “Panmas” — the avuncular owner and chef at The Panhead’s Heaven Saloon — the “concept” upon which his towering burgers are built. By his count, the Cheese-Bomb has more than 2,000 units ...

Fast-food lunches in Japan are starting to get cheaper as consumers look to trim their dining expenses, a worrying sign for the central bank as it tries to bring about inflation. Japan’s fast-food chains have lowered menu prices over the past six months, with ...

Galleria is a pizzeria with two outlets in Osaka Prefecture — one in Umeda and the other in Tondayabsahi. Their classic pizzas are prepared Neapolitan-style, with wafer-thin dough in the middle, thick crust and smothered in tomato sauce and olive oil. As with Neapolitan ...

Halloween-themed desserts are starting to arrive in Japan. Mister Donut dressed up its doughnuts earlier than usual this year, introducing two whipped-cream-filled varieties shaped like the world’s most famous beagle, Snoopy. These delicacies (¥183) come in two flavors: white chocolate and chestnut. The chocolate ...

Last week, the Google Doodle paid tribute to Takizo Iwasaki (1895-1965), the inventor of shokuhin sampuru, the lifelike food models that appear in restaurant displays throughout Japan. [View the story “Japanese food samples: Look so good you could eat them” on Storify]

Stir-frying, often thought to be a part of all East and Southeast Asian cuisines, has a fairly short history in Japan. The method of rapidly cooking chopped food in oil over a hot fire was first introduced to the country by Chinese immigrants in ...

There’s no mistaking the kind of cuisine offered at Yakitori Ogawa. All 15 seats in this compact, one-counter grill look directly onto the open kitchen where skewers of premium poultry are slowly, carefully tended to over glowing charcoal. Both the look and the location ...

Fukuoka was named the world’s seventh most-livable city by Monocle magazine this year for its eco- and business friendly initiatives — but its status as a ramen mecca couldn’t have hurt. Within Japan, Fukuoka is known, perhaps more than anything else, for tonkotsu (pork ...

Tempu is in no way a destination restaurant. It’s a six-minute schlep beside the tracks from JR Shibuya Station, and when you arrive all you’ll find is a cluttered hole-in-the-wall that fits eight at a pinch, all standing. But it’s this funky setting that ...

Ever wanted to munch on a apple pie while you’re on the go? Well, Lawson has come closest to solving the problem — for now, at least — with its new Apple Custard Pie. It’s sweet, full of apples, easy to eat and arrives ...