About Tom Baker

Tom Baker

I’ve been eating, drinking, reading, swimming and exploring in the Tokyo area for well over a decade, not to mention writing about it.

That writing so far has appeared in the following books:

The Sushi Lover’s Cookbook: Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Every Occasion, which I cowrote with Yumi Umemura, an accomplished Japanese cooking expert and author. Umemura-san runs her own cooking school in western Tokyo, which you can learn about here.

Tokyo Chic, a luxury travel guide to Tokyo that also includes coverage of Hakone and Kyoto. I had my first kaiseki meal while working on this book, at a ryokan inn called Gora Kadan. The food was superb, but what I remember most blissfully is taking sips of “umemitsu,” the inn’s homemade, tangy-sweet,  plum-wine style honey drink.

Time Out Guide to Tokyo, 5th EditionTime Out Tokyo, part of the globally popular city guide series. I lived in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood when I first contributed to this, and I made sure to include my favorite public swimming pool there — on the 11th floor of a building with gigantic windows.

Time Out Shortlist TokyoTime Out Shortlist Tokyo, a pocket-sized collection of highlights from the main Time Out guide, with some new material added as well — inlcuding my rundown of popular hanami cherry-blossom viewing spots.

Want to know more? Follow me on Twitter. Or e-mail me at sydneyswimmer2002@hotmail.com