Struggling with jet lag and broken sleep, we spent the morning at the Tsukiji Fish Market (separate post here) before strolling around the shops in Ginza. A particular favourite (and planned destination!) was Ito-ya, a stationery store established in 1905, with a beautiful newly refurbished store in Ginza. Twelve floors of stationery, note books and paper including a cafe and farm (!) where they grow plants to create the paper. Yes, they make their own paper. In every colour imaginable: beautiful…
After this, we wandered around the shops and department stores. Stopping for some lunch on the go (pork and potato fried…something?!)
Then we walked over to the Imperial Palace- not really much to see, as it was pretty much blocked off, but managed to get some pictures:
After this, we jumped on the metro to the Tokyo Tower, which is essentially a television aerial that has become a tourist attraction!
Underwhelmed, we needed a pick up. So we went for coffee. Or koffee. This is no ordinary coffee place. Omotesando Koffee (www.ooo-koffee.com) is in the back streets in Harajuku and is a pop up shop (with a more permanent license now), attached to a 60 year old Japanese home. The barista works in a small cube, there are no seat (but there is a kind of courtyard), and each coffee is prepared with the patience and perfectionism that you might expect from a top mixologist. There was a queue, and you have to wait- this isn’t Starbucks speed- but the setting, design and taste mean it is worth the wait.
Also in Harajuku is Maisen, a Tonkatsu restaurant. It wasn’t on the huge list of restaurants I have stored on my phone, but it smelled so good we couldn’t resist. There are different floors (including a tatami option), but we opted to sit at the bar. I don’t have any pictures of the food because they have a “no mobile phones” request which, in a city obsessed with their smart devices, we chose to adhere to! Tonkatsu is a fried pork dish and the menu walks you through the different parts of the pig you can eat. I had Kurobuta Rosu (pork loin), which comes served with rice, cabbage, miso soup and pickles. It was amazing. The service was great (the woman knew the words “please”, “thank you” and “sorry” and repeated them in one long string whenever she spoke to us- e.g. she put the beer down next to me and say “please-thank-you-sorry”- it was great!) So, one photo from the place- and it’s a shot of outside and the bar we sat at…
Then back to Akasaka for dessert, which came from Libertable, a beautiful store with the most stunning desserts. Each one is a piece of art! We ordered two, and they were carefully wrapped with ice packs inside and out for them to last the walk home (Tokyo has been unseasonably hot this week)
Now…can I find a spoon!?
