People | WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN? Dec 8, 2018
Machiko Yamashita: A Japanese breadwinner in Berlin
by Verena Dauerer
Former art historian and butoh dancer Machiko Yamashita brings Japanese bread buns to Berliners.
National Jan 19, 2017
More than 500 guests sampled Wagyu beef and sushi made with Uonuma Koshihikari rice Wednesday at an event to promote Japan's produce on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dishes featuring yellowtail and scallops were also served at Japan Night, held ...
Reference | SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT Nov 28, 2015
Why do we need a little bit on the side?
by Alice Gordenker
Dear Alice, I have been wondering about something for a long time: Why is sashimi always served on those piles of stringy daikon radish? Has this always been the case? Does the daikon serve any purpose, or is it just there for decoration? Also, what ...
Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Sep 11, 2015
Kyokabutoya: Informal Japanese cuisine in an old wooden townhouse
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Yasumasu Ikeda, chef and owner of Kyokabutoya, moved to the Kansai region from Hokkaido more than 15 years ago. After almost a decade of cutting his teeth in the kitchens of Osaka and Kyoto, he opened a Japanese restaurant around 2010. Kyokabutoya is housed ...
Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Sep 11, 2015
Sasaya Iori: Kyoto's 300-year-old sweets shop
by J.J. O'Donoghue
The area around Kyoto Station seems to lack the cultural and culinary charms found elsewhere in the city, but this might be changing. A massive restoration of the nearby Higashi Honganji Temple complex will soon be completed and Umekoji Locomotive Museum will be combined ...
Lifestyle Mar 13, 2015
Is virtual art as nourishing as a set meal?
by James Hadfield
You have to admit, it's all awfully clever. At "L'art de Rosanjin," which runs at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall until March 24, visitors can sit in a virtual tempura restaurant, and gawp as images of the chef's hands at work are projected on the counter ...
National | KANSAI PERSPECTIVE Feb 22, 2015
Where's the beef? Kyoto looks to carve out global niche
by Eric Johnston
The quintessential tourist image of Kyoto cuisine is one of a refined "bento" (boxed lunch) containing all sorts of small treats, but heavy on fish, tofu and vegetables, with much attention devoted to presentation and tastes that are sublime, but not overpowering. Certain Kyoto ...
People | WORDS TO LIVE BY Feb 20, 2015
Chicken one day doesn't mean feathers on the next
by Judit Kawaguchi
Hisako and Ryoichi Maeda (66 and 67) are the proprietors of Torisue, a tiny take-out-only yakitori shop in the Bontan area of Tokyo's Koto Ward, just a short walk from Monzen-Nakacho Station. Torisue is famous as a B-kyu (B-grade) gourmet favorite and fans from ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Oct 14, 2014
Japan's take on the humble burger
by Makiko Itoh
There are two dishes that can be translated as "hamburger" in Japan. One is the all-American favorite, a beef patty sandwiched in a bun, which in Japanese is called hanbāgā. The other kind is similar to a Hamburg steak or Salisbury steak, made with ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Sep 16, 2014
by Makiko Itoh
The average Japanese person eats around 320 eggs (tamago) per year, according to the International Egg Commission, placing it in the Top 3 worldwide. (In comparison, the average American eats around 250 eggs per year.) Eggs are enjoyed in many sweet and savory dishes, ...
Food & Drink | JAPANESE KITCHEN Aug 19, 2014
by Makiko Itoh
The fact that corn or maize has a Japanese name — tōmorokoshi — indicates that it entered the country centuries ago, before it was the norm to import the name of a food as-is and spell it out phonetically (as with tomatoes or asparagus, ...
Food & Drink | NATURE'S PANTRY Jul 29, 2014
Meet the artisan family striving for a better fish flake
by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
The local train bound for Yamakawa bucked and buckled down the coast, jouncing us until our teeth rattled, and Yamakawa was so dinky we had to walk across the train tracks to exit the station. The taxi took us through a confusing rabbit warren ...