A few steps from the enormous railway platforms and neon-lit streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo suddenly feels like a different city. Narrow passages glow beneath red lanterns. Smoke drifts from charcoal grills. Customers sit shoulder-to-shoulder at tiny wooden counters, drinking beer and eating skewers prepared just inches away. This is Omoide Yokocho, one of Tokyo’s most … Read more
Osaka is famous for street food, lively izakayas and late-night drinking, but one of its most unusual dining experiences begins after the main meal has finished. Hidden on the third floor of a building in Kitashinchi, Ijou Maru is a small dessert bar where elaborate Japanese parfaits are served with the ceremony usually reserved for … Read more
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
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
There’s a point during almost every Tokyo Disney trip when IKSPIARI suddenly becomes useful. Maybe you’ve arrived at Maihama hours before your hotel room is ready. Maybe everyone wants dinner but you don’t want another theme-park meal. Maybe you’re staying around Tokyo Disney Resort but don’t have a park ticket that day. Or perhaps you’ve … 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
Tokyo has sushi restaurants everywhere. It also has plenty of sightseeing buses. Someone has now decided to combine the two. The new SUSHI BUS Tokyo is a double-decker sightseeing bus fitted with a working conveyor-belt sushi lane on the upper deck. Passengers eat unlimited sushi while the bus travels through central Tokyo, turning what would … Read more