The sound of two sumo wrestlers colliding is something television rarely captures properly. Up close, the force, balance and speed of their movements can be surprising, even if you have never watched a sumo match before. At Hirakuza Ginza Tokyo, visitors can experience that physical intensity inside a purpose-built sumo entertainment restaurant, without having to … Read more
Tokyo has no shortage of restaurants promising unforgettable skyline views, but Terrace Dining TANGO offers something quite different. Rather than looking across the city towards Tokyo Tower, you dine almost directly beneath it. At this stylish restaurant in Shiba Park, the tower’s immense orange-and-white structure rises above a garden terrace framed by greenery, soft lighting … Read more
There is a moment in Kill Bill: Volume 1 when the Bride enters the House of Blue Leaves, a spectacular Japanese restaurant filled with wooden balconies, glowing lanterns and a vast central dining room. What follows is one of Quentin Tarantino’s most memorable action sequences. What many people don’t realise is that the restaurant’s design … Read more
A visit to Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery is one of the best day trips from Niseko for anyone interested in Japanese whisky. Located in the coastal town of Yoichi, the distillery is where Masataka Taketsuru established Nikka’s original whisky-making operation in 1934. Almost a century later, its stone buildings, traditional copper pot stills and historic warehouses … Read more
Kyoto changes quickly after midnight. Pontocho becomes quieter. Restaurant doors start closing. The last trains disappear. Streets that were packed a few hours earlier can suddenly feel almost empty. But Kyoto does not completely shut down. The mistake is expecting every part of the city to stay awake equally. If you want to keep drinking … Read more
Searching for Rikimaru Robatayaki in Osaka creates an unexpected problem. There isn’t just one. You may see Isaribi near Osaka Station, Magome around Umeda, Rikimaru Chaya near Hozenji, Tanuki Chaya around Sennichimae and several more with completely different names. Look quickly at the menus and the confusion gets worse. They all seem to sell the … Read more
A scallop lands in front of you on the end of a long wooden paddle. A few minutes earlier, it was sitting beside the grill. Now it’s bubbling with butter and sauce, still in its shell, and costs ¥385. That’s the part of Rikimaru Robatayaki Isaribi that photographs don’t explain particularly well. Yes, this is … Read more
Tokyo has Disney resorts, observation decks, digital-art museums and enormous arcades. Joypolis doesn’t quite fit into any of those categories. It’s a three-floor indoor amusement park in Odaiba where a roller coaster runs through a building, two people can compete on a giant spinning halfpipe, Sonic has his own physical challenge, and attractions based on … Read more
Tokyo has vending machines everywhere. Most aren’t particularly interesting. They sell water, canned coffee, sports drinks and the occasional hot corn soup. After a few days in Japan, you’ll probably walk past them without looking. Then you find one making a bowl of hot ramen. Or selling fresh cream in a can. Or dispensing frozen … Read more
Japan’s vending machines stop being surprising fairly quickly. After a few days in Osaka, buying water, coffee or an energy drink from a machine beside the road feels completely normal. Then you find one that gives you a cake. Not a packaged slice from a refrigerated shelf. At SpielKuchen in Osaka, you put ¥500 into … Read more