Tag - tokyo

 
 

TOKYO

COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2007
Japan, India: natural allies
NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, weakened by a mortifying defeat in Upper House elections, will address the Indian Parliament later this month. This is an honor that U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao did not get during their state visits to India last year. India and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 3, 2007
Sumile: Al fresco dining above the crowds
Shibuya is not the neighborhood that springs to mind most readily when planning a mellow evening of al fresco dining — and certainly not anywhere in the vicinity of brash pedestrian street Center-gai. And yet why not, when the tranquil terrace at Sumile lies just steps away from all that relentless...
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2007
Blame game since Lockerbie
LONDON — Libya is the land of make-believe, and from a safe distance it can seem comical. The 65-year-old teenager who runs the place, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, has an even stronger commitment to fashion than my 15-year-old daughter (although she has much better taste). But it's a very ugly regime close...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2007
The trouble with Poland
WARSAW — "We are only demanding one thing, that we get back what was taken from us. If Poland had not had to live through the years 1939-1945, it would be a country of 66 million." Thus spoke Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski on the eve of the last European Union summit, when he sought to gain...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 20, 2007
Rak Thai Pheng Roi: Thai 'food stall' keeps it casual
At this time of this year, every day feels like casual Friday. And as the humidity rises and the perspiration drops, simple is the way we like it. That means food that's light and flavorful, preferably with a good spicy kick to it — and strictly no dressing up for dinner.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2007
China's 'patriotic' church
HONG KONG — The Vatican, through a pastoral letter from Pope Benedict XVI to the 12 million Catholics in China, has called for reconciliation between the so-called patriotic church, which operates independently from the Holy See, and the underground church, which recognizes the supremacy of the pontiff....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2007
Eating your way along the coast
The ocean sparkles; the beach beckons; a breeze stirs the appetite. And the Shonan coast — an hour or so south of Tokyo by train — looks mighty appealing, especially the secluded inlets down the peninsula in genteel Hayama. That's where you'll find the Food File.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 15, 2007
Tofuya Ukai: Below the Tower a Garden of Edo
Tofuya Ukai is one of those "only in Japan" experiences. In the heart of the city, minutes from Roppongi and at the very foot of Tokyo Tower, you round a corner and find yourself in front of a samurai-era merchant's residence, its low-slung wooden gateway announced by an imposing white lantern and a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2007
Butagumi: In hog heaven with the pig gang
Gourmet tonkatsu. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, as implausible as haute cuisine hot dogs or Michelin-starred jellied eels. Surely those breaded, deep-fried "cutlets" of pork can be nothing but comfort food: fatty, filling and reassuringly easy on the budget.
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2007
ADB's struggle with success
The Asian Development Bank was founded four decades ago to help lift Asia out of poverty. At the time, per capita GDP in the region was less than $170; the 31 founding countries sought to create an institution that would help them gain access to scarce capital and speed their development.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2007
Viron: Bread and rosé in Marunouchi
Whatever happened to Tokyo's love affair with the cafe-brasserie? A decade ago, the entire city seemed ready to embrace the Gallic ethos of sipping coffee and nibbling on croissants (or pastis and salade nicoise) while indulging in the leisurely sport of people watching.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2007
Manuel Churrascaria: Portuguese bistro-casual with a grill
Another week, another new building complex. After working our way through Tokyo Midtown, Velviakan in Ginza and the new Shin-Marunouchi Building, we'd had it with the hype and the crowds. Craving simple, honest sustenance in a quiet neighborhood setting, it came as a pleasure to return at last to Manuel...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 20, 2007
Kinsai: Nakame's hip new super kitchen
The three sturdy wooden doors that form the frontage of Kinsai open out onto busy Yamate-dori, a 10-minute walk from Naka-Meguro Station. It's an unromantic location, but that doesn't deter the well-clad clientele who have been filling the place every night since it opened at the beginning of this month....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2007
Kin-no-saru: In any season, a park-side classic
We had it all planned. We'd spend the afternoon in Kichijoji's Inokashira Park, strolling and sitting under the cherry trees, with maybe a dram or two of sake to inspire lofty thoughts, before adjourning for dinner nearby. But we hadn't counted on the weathermen getting their predictions so wrong.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2007
Restaurant Khyber: Subtle spices from the tandoor grill
The tandoor oven has come a long way from its humble roots in northern India and what is now Pakistan. Basic but so effective, its design has remained unchanged for thousands of years: a simple terra-cotta cylinder, maybe a meter high and 25 cm across, surrounded by thick insulation to keep the heat...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2007
Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee: given the museum treatment
The wraps came off the new National Art Center in late January, revealing Kisho Kurokawa's tour de force in all its glory. The sinuous, bulging facade is remarkable enough, but it's the vast atrium inside that undulating skin of celadon-green glass that really stops you in your tracks.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 16, 2007
Fired up for a Chinese celebration
The bunting and decorations are in place. The fatted calf has been slaughtered, the fatted lamb, piglet, chicken and duckling, too. The Chinese New Year is upon us, and close to a third of the world's population is ready to party.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 19, 2007
Ebisu Imaiya So-Honten: Skewered or simmered, rare birds
The evenings are long and dark. Icy winds whip through the streets. Comfort food is called for, and it pays to know where to find it. If we're in Ebisu, as often as not we head straight to Imaiya So-Honten.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 12, 2007
Wine bars you can't afford to miss
Tokyo is awash with wine these days. Any restaurant that wants to be taken seriously -- and, more importantly, has high overheads to cover -- must boast a well-stocked cellar, preferably glass-fronted, carefully illuminated and strategically placed in full view of the dining room.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 5, 2007
Kamakura: slow food on the coast
We spent this new year, as is our custom, in Kamakura. We helped to toll the joya-no-kane bell at our favorite hillside temple. At a little shrine under a steep, wooded cliff, we made our ritual hatsumode obeisances. And then, needless to say, we feasted in auspicious style.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.