Tokyo Sights

My regular haunts in Tokyo

This quick report shows a selection of some of my favourite places in Tokyo, I’ll keep adding different ones, each time a TR features a stop in Tokyo.

My first stop is Cute Cup in Nishi-Funabashi station. Mr and Mrs M live in NF and I love coffee, so my trips to tokyo invariably lead me here.

Japanese style “laboratory coffee”

I love how you can pick your coffee based on a selection of stats, like playing an RPG. (I always tend to pick ones with extreme skews in one particular stat – living on the edge)

If you want to gear up for a night out, you can’t go far wrong with a can of Strong Zero – which tastes like grapefruit soda yet somehow is as strong as 2 or 3 beers – and a “salaryman drink”. Seriously, residents of Tokyo average 4 hours sleep a night, yet they’re always able to get up, work a full day and party, how? Salaryman drinks.

This enormous Studio Ghibli clock installation is right by the Conrad. Every hour, on the hour, an elaborate mechanical procession of creatures celebrates the passage of time.

 

Areas under Shinkansen (“bullet train”) tracks are usually great placees to find little bars and restaurants. Yurakucho is right near the Conrad too and home to some of the best of these little hole in the wall joints. That last photo is of a gorzonzola pizza, drizzled with honey – Japanese bar food is amazing.

 

Also on the East side of town, the Tokyo Forum is well worth walking through, a stunning piece of architecture, right near the Imperial palace gardens.

If you continue walking for a few minutes you arrive at the new Tokyo station, more Ghibliesque design. Pretty good shot for a mobile phone camera, right?

Shibuya is my area of choice for overcoming jet lag. The heaving throngs of humanity, the bright lights and sounds are perfect for lifting mental fog.

Shibuya is also home to one of the coolest sushi restaurants in the world – Uobei. The sushi is super cheap and really tasty – it includes all the usuals plus some premium items such as Hokkaido scallops and O-toro as well as the more unusual – cod milt.

However, the coolest thing is that all the ordering is done by computer screen and the food comes flying out on jet platforms.

The final stop on my whirlwind tour of Tokyo: Fuglen coffee shop on the south-west corner of Yoyogi park.

You’ll probably pass a few Harajuku hipsters on the way

And some pretty cool graffiti – I wonder what BR make of this…

It is worth the long walk. Fuglen has a really cool vibe, the place is filled with vintage Nordic design and makes my favourite coffee in Japan. It also has a really well stocked bar.

Finally, here are a few pictures of Japan being Japan

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