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JAPAN
Oct 25, 2013

Hotelier lays food scam to staff ignorant of law

Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co. has been misrepresenting items on its menus for seven years at eateries in at least four prefectures, possibly scamming some 79,000 patrons in the process, and management is blaming the misdeeds on employees ignorant about the law.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2013

Shokkan Solamachi-ten: Meals with a view in the Skytree complex

Timing is everything at Tokyo Skytree. In daylight the urban sprawl below just looks banal; at night, the city lights gleam with romance, but you can't see to the far horizons. Get there for sunset, though, and if conditions are right, the view can be little short of magical.
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2013

'Agripreneurs' tech-savvy green thumbs

Umeshu Dining Myojo, a small eatery in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, is growing its own herbs and leafy vegetables, including basil, mint, arugula and romaine lettuce, on site as part of a hydroponic "agripreneurism" effort.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 18, 2013

Akasaka Tantei: A taste of Kyoto-style Okinawa in Tokyo

Okinawan food is — for me at least — the food of summer. When the days are short and chill, I have little interest in the flavors of Japan's southwestern isles. But when the heat and humidity build like a thunderhead, that is the time the cravings arise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 1, 2013

Den: Modern Japanese with a wry twist

Japanese cuisine at its loftiest is elegant and profound. It can be taut as a tea ceremony or exquisite as a furisode kimono. But inventive, irreverent? Only at Den.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 15, 2013

Teuchisoba Narutomi: Soba and tempura make for a classic combination

Tempura and soba: Separately, they're two essential elements of traditional Japanese food culture. Put them together side by side on the table and they add up to one of the all-time classic dishes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 8, 2013

New lobby at Ritz-Carlton, Osaka; grill your own pancakes; Valentine's Day dinner with roses

Ritz-Carlton, Osaka renews lobby
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 28, 2012

2012: Another year of good Tokyo eating

Before we usher out the Dragon and ring in the Snake, it's time to pause, look back and appreciate all the fine eating that Tokyo has provided this year. Gongs and rankings are meaningless in a city the size of Tokyo: How can anyone visit and compare more than a fraction of even the best restaurants?...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 16, 2012

Flatiron: Flavor and flair combine in miraculous chemistry

Whenever an exciting new restaurant is launched in Tokyo, usually it's all over the foodie magazines within days. Not so with Flatiron. Though it's been up and running since September, it's been flying well under the radar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 2, 2012

Kamachiku: Redbrick storehouse as classic as the noodles

For a food with such a long and venerable history, udon gets surprisingly short shrift in Tokyo. Sure, it's not hard to find these long, chunky, white wheat noodles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 3, 2012

Torishiki: Where a yakitori artisan rules the roost

Arriving for the first time at Torishiki's elegant entrance, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had come to the wrong address. The chic, charcoal-gray facade, artfully illuminated in the dusk; the dwarf maple growing from a ceramic pot; the plain-wood sliding door with its pristine white noren curtain:...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2012

World Beer Museum: Having a few drinks beneath the Skytree

If the view from the top of Tokyo Skytree leaves you hungry for more down-to-earth pleasures, there's no shortage of eating options in the Tokyo Solamachi mall at the foot of the tower. The ground floor arcade offers snacks and souvenirs, including a branch of one of Tokyo's most enterprising sake specialists,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 15, 2012

Takazawa: Food for all the senses

Ever since chef Yoshiaki Takazawa opened his bijou restaurant back in 2005, it has been one of Tokyo's most intriguing secrets, more talked about than actually visited. Lauded more loudly abroad than here in Japan, its mystique has been fueled by the setting, the scale and a palpable sense of exclusivity....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2012

Tonki: Dishing up 73 years of tasty tonkatsu success

Nowhere does tonkatsu like Tonki. Of all the restaurants in Tokyo that serve those ever-popular cutlets of breaded, deep-fried pork — and they number in their thousands — nowhere stands out quite the way Tonki does.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012

Kita-Kamakura En: Kaiseki course as delicate as blossom

It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has liftoff. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important cherry blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2012

Yoshihashi: Top-class sukiyaki at a fraction of the price

Elegance, refinement, exclusivity: These are qualities only to be expected at any high-end Japanese restaurant. Affordability? Think again. Or, rather, think different. That's the way to approach Yoshihashi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2012

Michinoku: Tohoku restaurant serves up a northeastern menu

Zunda-mochi dumplings, hatto-jiru soup, hittsumi noodles: These are far from mainstream Japanese foods, and rarely found on restaurant menus. But they're essential landmarks on the culinary landscape of the Tohoku region. They are also core items on the menu at Michinoku, one of the very few eateries...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2012

Soi 7: Meanwhile, elsewhere in Yoyogi-Uehara ...

Neighborhoods are like microclimates, each with its own ecology of dining opportunities. Some are arid desserts with barely a ramen shop in sight. Others are lush and fertile, with a rich range of cuisines and styles. And then there are the hidden corners, seemingly overlooked, that sprout an improbably...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2012

New Fish House claims east Ebisu as its oyster

First the sad news: One of Ebisu's finest, friendliest little French restaurants has upped and moved to the far side of town. Now the silver lining: Those selfsame pint-sized premises have reincarnated as a branch of Ebisu's finest, friendliest oyster emporium. Just six weeks since saying au revoir to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2012

Uchiyama: Subtle delights of a brand new year

The holidays are behind us now, but it's still the season for celebrating the New Year. From mochi rice dumplings to mikan mandarins, there are so many festive foods in Japan. Few are more auspicious, or supremely delicious, than madai, known in English variously as sea bream or red snapper.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 16, 2011

Il Rifugio Hayama: coastal cucina with flair and local flavor

The summer beach season may be over, but we are already planning our return to the Shonan coast. Not for the sand and sea, though, but the promise of a meal at Il Rifugio Hayama, currently our favorite Italian restaurant in all of Kanagawa Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 2, 2011

Cristiano's: A taste of Portugal in Tokyo's backstreets

Charcoal-grilled fish, lots of fresh seafood and seasonal produce, rice at least once a day and no fussy seasonings or sauces: Portuguese cuisine has so many points of overlap with Japan's, it's a wonder that it hasn't caught on here more widely.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2011

Hatos Bar: Perfect BBQ and beer for a long, hot summer

There are few good reasons for staying in Tokyo through a long, punishing Japanese summer. But there are a few consolations. The heat and sweat are a lot more bearable if you know that once night has fallen you can be sitting outside, with a light breeze in the air, cool music on the sound system, a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2011

My-Le: On track for great Vietnamese food

As soon as the rains lift and the temperatures rise, our thoughts turn to Vietnam. It's the food we crave: No other cuisine seems quite as appetizing once the sweltering summer sets in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2011

Shichi Jyu Ni Kou: Sampling unusual finds on the sake list

Perhaps the most singular aspect of Shichi Jyu Ni Kou (72 Kou) is its drinks list. No other kaiseki restaurant we know of this sophistication lays such emphasis on sake produced with organically grown rice — and to a lesser extent organic wine — to the point of devoting special sections in the menu...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2011

Shichi Jyu Ni Kou: Japanese cuisine that follows nature's cues

Japan, as has been said far too often, is a country of four seasons. But that tired old mantra is by no means the whole truth. The ancient lunisolar calendar recognizes 24 distinct divisions in the year, while haiku poets and others attuned to the constant flux of the natural world identify three times...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 20, 2011

Roppongi Nouen: Farmers' touch brings peas and quiet to Tokyo

Where does the food on our plates come from? Who grows it and how does it reach our tables? It's almost impossible to know, even when we're at home cooking for ourselves. Eating out in restaurants is a far greater leap of faith.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 15, 2011

Roppongi Nouen's Eat For Japan: The first bite is with the heart

Among the massive outpouring of support for Tohoku, one fundraising effort in particular has caught our eye. Eat For Japan is a program launched by Roppongi Nouen, a fine restaurant tucked away in the heart of Tokyo's nightlife district that specializes in good, wholesome dishes and farm-fresh produce....

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes