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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 23, 2011

Restaurants to lower prices during event

For many, French dining may give off an impression of being extremely formal and a bit too pricey. Diners Club International hopes to fix that.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 16, 2006

Ducasse brings young talent to Japan

As one of the world's top chefs, Alain Ducasse needs little introduction. Over the past two decades, few people have done more to develop and spread the gospel of French haute cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2023

L'Effervescence chef Shinobu Namae: The making of an 'icon'

The man who runs Tokyo's chic L'Effervescence restaurant reflects on his career from washing dishes to Michelin-star meals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2022

Natsuko Shoji crowned Asia's best female chef for her fashion-influenced fine dining at Été

At her hyper-exclusive six-seater restaurant, u00c9tu00e9, Natsuko Shoji creates elaborate 10-course meals that reference fashion and art.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants 2021
Jan 16, 2022

Every meal at Mekumi feels like an education

When it comes to sushi, what happens before the chef gets hold of the fish is just as important as his or her technique in preparing it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 14, 2020

Supercomputer-developed face shields may offer lifeline for Japan's restaurant industry

Using the Fugaku supercomputer, the world's fastest, a consortium of Japanese researchers has developed a wrap-around face shield that can more effectively block airborne droplets and reduce exposure to the coronavirus for diners at pubs and restaurants.
Kazuyuki Tanioka, the owner of Japanese cuisine Toya restaurant, prepares fish a sashimi dish during an interview in Beijing on July 25.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023

Japanese eateries in China fear ruin over Fukushima water release

Shortly after the 2011 disaster hit the Fukushima No. 1 plant, China banned the import of food and agricultural products from five Japanese prefectures.
Gond, which opened in May near Ochanomizu Station, is run by the same group behind the long-running Dhaba India restaurant that closed in April.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 20, 2023

At Gond, a legendary Indian street food lineage endures

You can tell straight away that Gond has a personality to match its extensive and eclectic menu of dishes from around the subcontinent.
Freshness and seasonality, along with the chef's ability to highlight both, feature heavily in Japanese fine dining.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 24, 2023

Does Japan's fine dining philosophy stand alone?

While Japanese fine dining is not as categorically defined as French gastronomie, a culture of refined dining has long existed in the country.
Ayatana's hand-pounded curry paste is just one example of what chef Bo Songvisava calls her revival of traditional Thai cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023

Ayatana elevates Thai comfort food to gourmet cuisine

Japan has no shortage of Thai food, but this new Kyoto restaurant aims to transcend its reputation of a casual bite.
Fumiyuki Kinsu (left) and Shun Sato are the driving forces behind Censu's wine-loving approach to Japanese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023

Censu: An izakaya where wine outshines beer and sake

Censu’s eclectic cuisine is rooted in Japanese culinary vernacular but takes in the breadth of chef Shun Sato’s diverse experiences abroad.
Chef Masato Nishihara chose Nara as the site for his restaurant, Tsukumo, for its antiquity, its proximity to nature and its ancient connections with overseas cultures.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 3, 2023

Tsukumo: Japanese cuisine inspired by Nara's ancient roots

Like the treasures housed inside Nara's Shosoin repository, it may be years before chef Masato Nishihara reprises some of his exquisite dishes at Tsukumo.
Spot workers who choose when and where to work through dedicated apps during their free time are seen as a new pool of human resources in industry sectors that have faced labor shortages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 4, 2023

Number of 'spot workers' surges in Japan amid labor shortage

The work style has gained popularity due to the flexibility it offers: individuals can choose when and where to work through dedicated apps.
A native of Seoul who grew up in Shanghai, Hana Yoon moved to New York to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 4, 2024

In Japan’s age-old capital, a young head chef stirs the pot

Upon her arrival in Kyoto, Yoon spent four months delving into the distinctive varieties of “kyōyasai,” vegetables grown in Kyoto and its suburbs.
Virgilio Martinez (left) and Santiago Fernandez, head chef at Tokyo's Maz, are finding massive success bringing elevated Latin American cuisine to Japanese diners.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 18, 2024

At two-starred Maz, ‘the experience extends beyond the meal’

“We see Maz as a kind of ‘culture house’ for Latin America in Japan,” says head chef Santiago Fernandez.
Being invited as a guest chef to luxury hotels provides me with an opportunity to showcase my cooking to as many customers in a single day.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 25, 2024

Grace Choy: A few thoughts on being a guest chef

The key as a guest chef is standardization — how to maintain the quality of the food while serving hundreds of diners a day.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024

Restaurant chain Torikizoku to open branches in Taiwan and Hong Kong

Specific details regarding the number of restaurants and finalized opening dates in Hong Kong and Taiwan are yet to be determined.
An employee at the Apita Kisarazu shopping mall in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture. Pan Pacific International Holdings, the parent company of the firm that operates Apita, abolished its rules on hair color in 2022 following requests by its employees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024

Japan's retailers and restaurants ease dress codes amid labor shortage

More and more companies have abolished in-house rules prohibiting colored hair and piercings to help with hiring and retain staff.
Chef Harutomo Hagi's self-named restaurant in Iwaki was selected as the 2023 Japan Times Destination Restaurant of the Year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 10, 2024

Hagi: French restaurant leads Fukushima revival

The Japan Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year is a sterling example of Fukushima’s slow and steady post-disaster revival.
In 2017, chef Shinsaku Suzuki moved to the Yatsugatake region of Yamanashi Prefecture with his wife, Emi Ishida, after locating the perfect premises: a splendid 170-year-old traditional Japanese house.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 6, 2024

Ai to Ibukuro: Terroir of Yamanashi's uplands

With a name that translates to “Love and Stomach,” this rural restaurant not far from Tokyo delivers with flying colors on both counts.
Watami CEO Miki Watanabe (right) during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024

Izakaya chain buys Subway Japan in challenge to McDonald’s

The Subway franchise has historically struggled to gain footing in the Japanese market, with just 178 locations compared to nearly 3,000 for McDonald’s.
British-born Daniel Calvert earned his third Michelin star last month — a stunning achievement considering his restaurant, Sezanne, has only been open for just over three years.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 24, 2024

Tokyo’s newest three-star chef wants ‘harmony across every detail’

Daniel Calvert has managed to reach the pinnacle of the culinary world just three years after opening fine French dining restaurant Sezanne.
Food loss happens at food-related businesses including-food makers, retailers and restaurants, as well as at households.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan drafts more ambitious 60% goal for cutting business food loss by 2030

The government hopes to require food businesses to change practices such as rejecting foods and beverages that are close to their best-before date.
Economic uncertainty has left some U.S. drinkers looking for ways to rein in their booze spending, according to three of the largest U.S. spirits distributors.
BUSINESS
Dec 24, 2024

Shrinking U.S. bar tabs signal little festive cheer for liquor makers

Some drinkers are switching to cheaper liquor brands and venues or reducing the amount of out-of-home celebrations they attend.
The film version of “The Solitary Gourmet” is a directorial debut for Yutaka Matsushige, long known for his leading role as salaryman and gourmand Goro Inogashira.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2025

‘The Solitary Gourmet’: Palatable movie adaptation may leave you wanting more

Lead actor Yutaka Matsushige’s film directing debut offers ambient pleasure for fans of the long-running TV series.
Katsumi Shinagawa prepares to shred cabbage to serve with pork cutlet dishes at the restaurant Katsukichi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2025

Climate change cooks up Japanese 'cabbage shock'

It is the latest pain point for shoppers and eateries in Japan already squeezed by inflation.
The government plans to allow foreign nationals to engage in home care services, a sector struggling with a labor shortage.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2025

Japan looks to allow foreign nationals to engage in home care services

Non-Japanese would be allowed to work in the sector if they meet certain conditions, such as receiving training.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?