Tag - tokyo

 
 

TOKYO

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 10, 2006
Shaping 'neo-classic' cuisine
It is a measure of Tokyo's hidden depths that many of its top restaurants remain so little known, at least among the city's expatriate population. That is certainly the case with L'Osier. Founded in 1973, it established its heavyweight reputation under French master chef Jacques Borie, winning a devoted...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 3, 2006
Kuro-hitsuji: Ghengis Khan gets hip
Until recently, the distinctive style of cooking mutton known as jingisukan -- the Japanese transliteration of the name of a well known Mongolian butcher -- was thought far too uncouth to be considered seriously. So how did this coarse, blue-collar dish, so long a staple of smoky grills in the godless...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2006
Cicada: That Mediterranean buzz
Readers of this column over the past seven years will be well aware of our abiding love of the food and wine of the western Mediterranean. Anyone who has eaten his or her way around Spain will understand. From the seafood of Galicia and the Basque coast to the sherry, tapas and superb hams of Andalucia,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2006
Kanda Matsuya: pick your century of soba
New Year in Japan brings with it all manner of ritual and circumstance. Observing the first sunrise. The all-important hatsumode shrine visit. Receiving (and assessing) nenga greetings. Perhaps even the sipping of otoso, the medicinal-tasting sake that guarantees health throughout the next 12 months....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 16, 2005
A few more before we go
It's always the same story: So many restaurants, so much great food, so little time. The Food File never has enough columns in a year to feature all of the excellent places we've enjoyed over the past 12 months. So, quickly, before we get sidetracked on pouring the mulled wine and carving the turkey,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 9, 2005
Standing firm for tradition
Akitaya is no gourmet dining destination. The food is basic, the sake cheap. Clouds of oily smoke billow out from a blackened, grease-encrusted charcoal grill onto the sidewalk, where customers huddle around tables fashioned from upturned beer crates.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 2, 2005
Gordon Ramsay at Conrad Tokyo: Haute cuisine with altitude
Aside from some road-laying and cosmetic work, the bristling high-rises of the Shiodome complex are complete. It's a brutal, soulless landscape on an inhuman scale. There's only one thing that can tempt us along those sterile walkways and mazelike underpasses: the promise of fine dining. And no one does...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2005
Banrekiryukodo: Simple alchemy works wonders
The ikebana alcove in the clattering, bustling train station; the Shinto shrine on the roof of a high-rise office building; a bonsai pine outside a garish love hotel: Tokyo throws up juxtapositions of this unlikely sort at every turn. So it comes as no surprise whatsoever to find contemporary ryori at...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2005
Shunju Tsugihagi: Perfection in the mix
No restaurants in Tokyo have done more to shape the aesthetic of contemporary Japanese dining than the Shunju group. Over the past 20 years, their trademark synthesis of cutting-edge design -- the work of Shunju's founder and creative genius, Takashi Sugimoto -- with a cosmopolitan take on traditional...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 21, 2005
Les Vinum: Wine and BBQ in wafu style
Wine with Japanese cuisine? We've never been convinced. In theory, all that seafood should find the perfect match with a crisp Chablis, Condrieu or unoaked Chardonnay. But when sip comes to gulp, we'll always prefer a ginjo or yamahai sake to accompany our sashimi, sukiyaki or tempura.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 7, 2005
Kumazawa Brewing Company: Brews worth the trip
Drink locally, eat bountifully: It's a rule of thumb that has served us very well over the years in Japan. Places that specialize in good nihonshu invariably serve food of similar quality. So it would stand to reason that, if a brewer of fine jizake were to open its own restaurant, then the results would...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 16, 2005
Negiya Heikichi: Peace of mind can be yours, even in Shibuya
Looking for a peaceful, adult place to eat in central Shibuya is about as easy as finding a street without a karaoke box. So when you come across the understated, almost quaintly retro entrance to Negiya Heikichi, in a back street close to Tokyu Hands, it seems too good to be true.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 2, 2005
Brasserie Bec: Bet you wished you lived nearby
Good food, cooked well and touched with creativity; a comfortable setting, attentive service and honest prices. Whether it's haute cuisine or a ramen shack, those are our criteria for satisfaction. Location counts for nothing: Often the best value for money is to be found well away from the bright lights,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2005
Shimauta Paradise, Phuket Aroyna Tabeta: Urban oases for summertime dining
Trapped in Tokyo through another steamy summer and, not surprisingly, we are dreaming of south-sea islands. Sun-dappled beaches of pure white sand lapped by the calm, azure ocean; the wind soughing through fields of sugar cane; and a plate of stewed pigs' ears and goat sashimi washed down with high-octane...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 5, 2005
Bar Camaron: An appetite for Andalucia
'Tis the season for grazing -- coaxing the appetite to life, while nibbling on snacks and sipping on something nice and cool. And this summer, more than ever before, Tokyo is discovering the pleasures of tachi-nomi (literally "stand and drink") joints and their upscale counterparts, which eschew all...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2005
Hatsuogawa: The days of eel are upon us
Tradition is comforting, no matter whose culture it is. We eat plum pudding for Christmas, mochi at New Year and moon cakes to mark the Autumn Festival. We throw beans at setsubun and, on Valentines' Day, we will gladly accept as much chocolate as comes our way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2005
Sekirei: In a beer garden of heavenly delights
The grass is as closely mowed a croquet lawn. In the distance, conifers jut into the early evening sky. The air is sultry, the city traffic just a far-off hum. A waiter wearing a black bow tie delivers a tall glass of frothing beer to your table. You sink back in your armchair. Summer's here, and there...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 17, 2005
Tribes: An African heart beats in Kagurazaka
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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 10, 2005
Sushi Ouchi: There's nothing to fear in naturally good sushi
Entering an old-school Edomae sushi shop for the first time can be daunting -- even for the most self-confident of us. The welcome is often so vocal it verges on the aggressive. The cedarwood counters look scrubbed to the point of sterility, the gleaming bright interiors afford little sense of warmth...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 3, 2005
Da Pasquale: Premium pizza in a spiced-up setting
The hunt for the perfect pizza, much like the surfer's search for the ultimate wave, is an unending quest. That doesn't mean we are never satisfied. On occasion we have come tantalizingly close to achieving our goal. And for that we must thank the good folks at Isola.

Longform

The Japanese government updated its English education guidelines in 2017 to emphasize communication over grammar and memorization. Public school teachers are incredibly busy, however, which means schools haven’t been able to implement changes uniformly. Private and alternative schools are attempting to remedy this.
The language of opportunity: Bilingual education is on the rise in Japan