Tokyo Style
Tokyo Day 1,2 3
Haneda
Arrivals seem to be my Achilles heel this trip along with well, my Achilles heel, which someday will need to get a rest from backpacks, hiking, and ceaseless walking.
Flight was uneventful, I finished The Republic is Calling You. For what was essentially a page-turning spy novel it blended in plenty of slice of life and human drama and gave an interesting perspective on North and South Korean experience. Ending felt hurried but maybe the journey was the destination and constructing the narrative as a single day required it. Would recommend it. One Korean novel which was recommended still remaining, Who Ate up All the Shinga. Then move onto Japan.
Customs was an absolutely nightmare. Took over two hours to get through. Not always like this apparently but so it goes. Got through a little after 1am. Turns out the airport kind of shuts down after midnight. After realizing my initial hotel booking did not have a 24 hour check in. Found First Cabin Haneda, an upscale capsule hotel at the airport.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xDipaSUV7YFbR6x86
My review “Best Late Night Haneda Airport Option”
First Cabin is great. Lots of places are in accessible after midnight because of service hours or public transit. First Cabin is located right in terminal 1 and importantly accessible even if the the terminal is closed. Just be aware there is no free terminal shuttle between 1:15am - 4:15am but the ride between terminals is very quick. Rooms were spacious and nice for capsule hotel with solid spa. It's a bit expensive for capsule hotel but again you are right at the airport which makes it a fantastic option if you are flying in or out at odd hours.
Was certainly worried this would not work since there were numerous prominent signs telling me Terminal 1 was closed.
Thankfully caught the very last shuttle to Terminal 1 (it starts again at 415am).
Amazingly there is is a night door where the porter lets you into the empty and locked down airport which is pretty cool. Spacious cabins and a workable spa. Would recommend for those with layovers or flights arriving at awkward hours.
Got a decent five hours of sleep and am ready to hit the town.
Ikebukero
From Haneda took the subway right into Ikebukero. It was seamless this time to get cash from the ATM and get a Pasmo card. Honestly if you're not going the JR rail pass route this is much better. Lasts 10 years and deposit is $3.
Started off getting amazing Yuzu seasonal ramen at Mitsuyado Seimen Ikebukuro Sunshine 60 Dori branch
三ツ矢堂製麺 池袋サンシャイン60通り店 with a stop along the way for a millefeuille from Ringo. The ramen was amazing with fresh grated yuzu on top. Noodles were cold and chewy with a great dipping sauce and some white fish on top.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/72qEhQ6KrpzQJ5Rx9
From there I explored Ikebukero a bit. Seemed like a lot of stores and restaurants. Checked out Sunshine City which is a huge mall in the area. Wouldn't do it again but worth seeing. There was a Bandai-Namco store with the world's largest concentration of gashapon, or vending machine toy bubbles. Also had a ton of anime and setups for playing collectible card games.
There was an aquarium on the roof which was a bit of fun but on the smaller side. Nonetheless plenty of cool fish, turtles, and jellies. It was cool seeing penguins in transparent tubes against the Tokyo skyline.
The real attraction was the observatory roof at the top of Sunshine 60 which offered panoramic, unobstructed views of the city from a high vantage point. It was a bit nuts with kids everywhere and a faux fall theme with lots of bouncy furniture but the views were spectacular even on a somewhat overcast day.
Zoshigaya Cemetery
The next stop was Zoshigaya Cemetery because who doesn't randomly visit cemeteries whenever they are in the neighborhood.
It is always amazing in Japan how you can go from massive towers and the hustle and bustle of a thriving urban center to near complete silence in a matter of just a few minutes. After passing a picturesque rail train 🚂 I was immersed in the silence of the cemetery.
Japan's land management is a stinging rebuke to the demented NIMBYism of the US. That so many amazing green spaces, cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, shrines, temples, and historic homes exist in a metropolis is a testament to aggressive public and private development as a synergy between growth and historic preservation. We are a nation of goddamn morons.
I was particularly charmed by the politely worded sign at the entrance of the cemetery noting that untended graves with no living relatives were subject to being moved. Here we had graves going back to at least the 15th century in the middle of a metropolis and there is an active program of management. In Tokyo, even the dead are subject to urban renewal and change.
An unexpected treat was the grave of John Manjiro (John Mung). One of the first Japanese people to visit the US. He has a fascinating story and seems in part to be the inspiration to parts of Shogun. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakahama_Manjir%C5%8D
Ueno-Okimachi & Gyukatsu
After this it was off to Ueno to stay at the Hotel Dormy Inn. Despite the trifold redundancy in naming. This was a solid spot. Right in the middle of Ameyoko shopping street, a lively spot for streetside eating and drinking, and a short walk to Ueno Park and its accompanying museums.
The hotel was clean and basic with a basic but well-appointed onsen on the roof. After a shower, some hot pools, sauna, and cold plunge it was off to dinner.
It was very fun to walk down Ameyoko street. Lots of little izakayas and seafood spots with hawkers, packed and a great spot for people watching.
Stumbled upon Gyukatsu Motomura Ueno
牛かつもと村 上野店
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zhDM6wvqzjisQTyH9
It had all the right things going on. Nondescript, long line around the block. The line queued along the sidewalk and then on the stairs on the way up to the restaurant, you ordered while waiting on the stairs. There was one item on the menu, gyukatsu, fried wagyu beef cutlet. Although I strongly recommend getting the largest, two-cutlet combination with sides and a beer ($25). Inside I was shocked at how small it was, seating maybe 10 people at two counters with an active kitchen.
One of the best meals I've ever had. The katsu arrived breaded and warm but totally rare. You seared it on a little personal stone grill. The sauces and sides were absolutely phenomenal. If I can find a negative it's that I absolutely cleaned my plate and could have used some more dipping sauce. Cannot overstate how fantastic and flavorful this meal was. As soon as I finished I was scheming on how to come back.
After that it was time for a long, slow, digestive walk. Walk through Ueno Park which was beautiful at night with the shrine lit up. Unfortunately the gardens and exhibits were closed at night but there were lots of joggers and it was nice to walk around the pond. Drank a beer while I walked. Again, the feeling of incredible quiet in such a busy city is startling. Walked through some older neighborhoods of alleyways. Got lost. Ended up in another cemetery. Aside from one woman walking her dog didn't see anyone else. It was quiet, dark, and peaceful.
Took a bus back and walked down a much quieter Ameyoko street. Stopped at a popular izakaya, drank a beer and had some pickled eggplant with hot mustard and fried garlic with a light dipping oil.
Then back for another couple rounds of sauna and cold pool in the Onsen before bed. What a way to live!
And, I finally got some real sleep.
Sushi & Toilets
After a lazy morning, hunger stimulated me to action. Headed for sushi finally. And boy was it fantastic. Ate the largest box set available, and four extra giant pieces of nigiri. And these nigiri were in some cases gigantic with three times as much fish on the same amount of rice. Everything was absolutely fantastic but the real treats came at the end with the chef's picks which were out of this world.
Sushi no Midori Umegaoka
梅丘 寿司の美登利 総本店
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GEJtWywesoBLbri67
Made friends on the basis of my haphazard identification of sushi and the look of transcendent ecstasy that crossed my face with each bite.
After that it was over to Yoyogi park to take in some nature and more importantly get some pictures with some of the toilets from Perfect Days for the kids. The Tokyo toilet experience was everything I could have asked for. I got to see the toilets from the movie! I also learned you can rent dogs to walk around the park.
It was a pleasant stroll through Yoyogi park. Some shrines. Lots of trees. An interesting Quetzalcoatl station to celebrate friendship between Japan and Mexico.
Then I visited the Meiji shrine because it was right in the park. The grounds were beautiful and it was cool walking through the big Torii gates and seeing all the sake and wine casks but overall not much to recommend it other than a pleasant stroll through some nice scenery right next to Harajuku.
After this, off to get some Yakiniku with an expat friend at No Meat, No Life. Tough not to like just going to town on a bunch of different preparations of beef. The shabu was good but I think my favorite was the tongue simply because I love beef tongue. Solid meal especially with a number of biru. After shooting the shit about living and working in Japan and paths taken and not taken time to get on the subway to get back to Ueno before it closed.
Wanted to get one more drink so ended up over at Bar Bookshelf. A tiny little bar with a great selection of interesting spirits. Had fun with the bartender and two patrons with a bilingual phrasebook, some light conversation, and a Japanese whiskey with Islay peat which was a novelty.
Ueno: Museum Day
Tokyo National Museum
It was museum day. Dove right into it with a light rain. I felt like I was the only person in Tokyo without a raincoat or an umbrella but it was such a light drizzle and the dry fit shirts do just that. Ueno park is beautiful during the day, rain or no rain.
First up was the Tokyo National Museum. Which is really four individual museums each housed in an imposing building. It is the museum for all things Japanese history. The Haniwa or clay tomb sculptures special exhibit was solid. The history of horse racing exhibit was a neigh for me but that building, which is the oldest museum in Japan, was absolutely beautiful with its stained green glass dome and classical pillars.
I loved the ukiyo-e and netsuke which I also have a soft sport for and it's cool to see the samurai swords and armor, the tea ceremony equipment is also quite interesting but it's just a massive amount to digest.
One of the buildings holds classical artifacts from other cultures and there's some good southeast Asian content and a solid mummy and statue of Sekhmet but you can probably do better elsewhere in the world.
National Museum of Western Art
Another beautiful museum architecturally with a Corbusier design and a wonderful sculpture gallery of Rodin works at the gate. The only downside is thanks to his skill at mass production of you've seen The Thinner, Gates of Hell, Adam, Eve, Burghers of Calais elsewhere you know the drill. But they are wonderfully situated.
The Monet special exhibit was excellent, assuming you are okay seeing a lot of water lilies. It was very large and contained numerous iterations and studies on the same scene which was an interesting perspective. I enjoyed some of his works from time in England that I was unfamiliar with that tried to capture the railway smoke and fog. Photography was limited to one room.
Overall the general collection was a bit disappointing so much dull medieval and renaissance Christian art. While the accompanying explanations for pieces were top notch with interesting details overall it was a bit of a miss with only one room at the end containing more modern art from the 20th century.
Sadly the Ueno Royal Museum was closed. So it was on to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
Another multiple museum in one scenario. This one was a bit confusing because each exhibit had separate ticketing and it wasn't clear which was which.
I saw Tanaka Issan: Light and Soul. Unfortunately this one was a bit of a dud for me while clearly something of a prodigy and with tremendous output I didn't find anything particular notable or interesting in his style particularly having seen so many other traditional Japanese scrolls and screens. Just rather dull.
There was one other exhibit I would have liked more but I did find the Citizens Art Galleries which seemed to be a mix of small artists and exhibits with a truly staggering array of stuff on display.
I never believed this would happen to me but I dare say after six hours I was museumed out.
A short walk back through some torii gates and a shrine and it was time to get some food. I went back to the gyukatsu place because it was just so amazing, and it did not disappoint this time. I got there right at 5:15pm and the wait was a modest 30m rather than the hour plus it was previously so recommend that.
Then off to Shibuya to stay at the Dormy Inn there. And as luck would have it, totally unsearched for came across yet another Tokyo toilet from Perfect Days.
Onsens
A quick note, the bathing and onsen culture is so amazing. I love changing into my hotel provided pajamas and slippers, grabbing my towel, and heading to the Onsen. Showering on the seated spots is very convenient once you get used to it and the omnipresent sauna and cold tub experience was made for me.
My usual routine is to clean off all the days grime, hop in the sauna for 8 minutes, rinse, go in the cold tub for as long as I can, rinse, back to the sauna for 12 minutes, rinse, cold tub, rinse, and finish with a shower or just some time in the hot pool. Doing this every morning and evening is probably excessive but man does it feel amazing.