I was going to do one last load of laundry in the morning, but it got late and I just got ready and left instead. I’ve only done laundry twice the entire trip! We took the (very crowded, especially for a Saturday morning) train to Tsukiji, near Ginza and the former home of the Tsukiji fish market.

We stopped at Turret Coffee, right around the corner from a Starbucks, for a really wonderful latte: dark, flavorful and large (especially for Japan) with a nice design. The barista was so friendly, again, and it seemed like the few people hanging out were regulars. We chatted for a while and she offered me my choice of sticker. I took the green one and thanked her profusely, as well as the guy making the coffee who I assumed was the owner.

We walked a few blocks west to Ginza, which is like Fifth or Madison Avenue in the 50s, lined with designer shops and expensive department stores. We went to the basement food hall in Mitsukoshi, the oldest department store in Japan. The food hall was huge, and I sampled a few small things, but it was crowded and there was nowhere to sit. We wandered through the clothing upstairs, but it had the same overpriced, stuffy feel as many department stores in Europe or New York. Actually, even more than New York.

We tried our luck again at Matsuya, next door. It was also higher end, but something about it just felt like a Macy’s. I didn’t like it. I wonder if it was just the crowds of people doing their holiday shopping. I had higher hopes for Itoya, a stationary store (and much more), but I was again sorely disappointed. Everything feels much less local than I want it to. I’ve felt that for weeks now. There were some beautiful pens, with prices in the thousands, but otherwise I saw nothing that interested me. Maybe I just don’t know where to look.

We decided to get out of Ginza, so we headed back to the train, with a stop at Turret for a hot chocolate. They were so happy to see me again, and I also tried their homemade Mont Blanc cake, which was special for the holidays, and very tasty.

We got off at Roppongi station so Jake could visit his mom’s uncle’s grave. He stopped for flowers before heading to the temple. Roppongi was miserable, at least the part we saw. It was just an enormous shopping complex, Roppongi Hills. I really do mean enormous. It was also filled with Christmas markets and hordes of people, both locals and tourists, and the worst kinds. We looked everywhere for the flower shop and couldn’t find it in the mall, which was just massive and terrible. Finally I spotted it right in front of my eyes, and he got flowers.

We walked through a quieter part of Roppongi (although still not nice), and I heard a version of jingle bells playing. I thought it was just a store or something but it was coming from street speakers, and continued all the way down the street. Jake described it as “special.” Special, indeed. We walked to the temple and found the grave, after much searching.

Then we walked to a different station and got back on the train to Nakameguro, to see more. We walked and shopped for a bit, but it was getting dark, so we headed to Seirinkan, which is supposed to have the best Italian-style pizza in Tokyo. We were seated on the second of three floors, with a spiral staircase connecting the three. Despite arriving as the restaurant opened, we were also given a time limit of an hour, and given the check before I could even inquire about dessert. It was pretty annoying. I think I’m sick of the rigidity here, even though things like that obviously happen all over. There were only 2 options for pizza: margherita and marinara. We each had a margherita, which was pretty traditional and tasty. We also had an arugula salad and broccoli with garlic and red pepper, both of which were sorely needed. I had red wine that might as well have been grape juice. I think it’s smart to stick to sake and shochu and cocktails, and maybe beer, in Japan. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the sake and shochu, many cocktails, and all the cheap, light beer, but I’m not sure the wine is up to par.

After dinner, we walked by the water and then up through Daikanyama. There were many boutiques, and I really wanted them to be nice but they were the same as everywhere else. It’s funny because the salespeople could have been anywhere, barely offering a greeting or an acknowledgement. We found one nice shop, Okura, in the same family as Blue Blue, and I got a reasonable pair of earrings.

We walked up through the mall in Daikanyama, called Log Road, along what used to be train tracks and could have been turned into a nice rail park but instead just became a shopping mall. We passed Spring Valley Brewery, from Kirin, which we also saw in Kyoto. We walked further into Ebisu, which is supposed to be a cool nightlife area, but it just felt like a less fun Shinjuku. All the cocktail bars in the area were empty and stuffy and expensive. I like a good cocktail bar but these were pretty extreme. I didn’t want to sit in any of them. I don’t understand bars that want you to be completely quiet. If you want to sit somewhere in silence, stay home.

We rode the train to Ueno for what seemed like forever. The helpful station worker pointed us toward the exit. I love the sheer number of workers in all the stations and the train system generally. The investment in infrastructure is so visible and refreshing.

We tried a bar in Ueno that was a pub but it was so smoky I couldn’t breathe, and there were no seats anyway, so we decided to just grab some beers and hang out in the hostel (sorry, hotel) lobby. I like that you can drink on the street here. I really will miss the konbinis, maybe more than anything else. The hotel was quiet, of course, with just the reception guy closing up for the night. Some Americans came in and had the saddest birthday celebration for their friend I’d ever seen. I couldn’t stay much longer, drinking beers in silence, so I headed up to the room and went to sleep.

Probably ready to go home,
Alex

Today’s solstice! It’s a little weird to not be home celebrating. I woke up feeling pretty good (Jake’s ears were still ringing a little) and took the subway to Shinjuku. The train line we’re on (Hibiya) isn’t the most convenient (it’s still pretty good) and we’re on the other side of the city, but the trains do cover a lot of ground pretty quickly.

We went to Fuunji Ramen, where we arrived just after opening and waited in the short line outside. We entered and ordered from the machine, and then stood against the back wall as we worked our way to the front. The whole place is just 15 seats or so at a long counter, with people in line standing behind. We were seated quickly. The tsukumen was really great, and full of umami, but it was one of the richest dishes I’ve ever eaten. What an experience. You sit and you’re surrounded by nothing but the sounds of salarymen and tourists slurping their noodles and the cooks occasionally asking people about their orders or what size they want (I went with large, of course, which was almost difficult to finish). It was hard too focus on anything and I kind of went into a trance and ate my noodles, which were chewy, and did my best with the broth. I loved the intensity in the moment, but reflecting on it afterwards soured me on the experience a little. Jake and I also both felt a little sick afterwards, although I’m not sure whether that was because of the tsukumen.

Either way, we walked a few blocks to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which I think is the equivalent to City Hall. There’s a free observation deck on the 45th floor, which offers panoramic views of the city. The floor was enclosed, which I like, and the windows were surprisingly dirty but still offered a wonderful view. There’s a estaurant blocking the “best” side that you can only enter if you eat there, but you can still see the skytree from a corner window, and you get a real sense of the scale. You can’t really understand the size and sprawl of the city until you see it from above. It’s truly endless. On a clear day, you might be able to see Mt. Fuji, but it was too bright for us to see that far.

We descended and walked back through the center of Shinjuku, past the station. We watched an ambulance drive so slowly with its siren on. The ambulances drive so passively here, it might be a problem. Jake remarked that he likes how orderly the crowds feel in Tokyo. It is true, it’s very manageable. Tokyo seems so refined and orderly, especially compared to the U.S. but also to many of the other cities we’ve visited. There’s a shallowness to the city but also a set of rules it seems to play by. All the pieces fit together neatly. They seem to have solved the puzzle.

We entered the Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens, which had been closed the last time we tried to go. The gardens are huge and pretty nice, but the effect was dampened by the visible city surrounding the park. I liked the Meiji Jingu gardens better, where you are out of sight (and more importantly, earshot) of the ugly office buildings and busy streets of the city. The gardens were still great, and we strolled from one end to the other before exiting through a different gate.

We walked to the Yamanote line and took it one stop to Shibuya, and walked to About Life Coffee Roasters. They were out of cold brew, sadly, but I had an iced drip coffee that was actually okay (with Onibus beans). We walked down through Daikanyama, which I liked again, but not as much as the previous visit. We stopped at Daikanyama T-Site again, but it was more crowded this time around, maybe because it was a Friday afternoon. The bookstore that takes up three buildings didn’t have as much appeal this time around, and the whole place felt more touristy and uppity.

We walked down towards the river and stopped at Blue Blue, one of a few stores/brands that’s owned by a local Daikanyama company. There’s a little local community, although it’s unclear how corporate the stores are. Jake got a sweater and I got a bag and some pins, after much deliberation. I liked the store both for the aesthetic and also for their use of indigo.

We walked across to Nakameguro, on the other side of the Meguro River. We walked along under the train tracks, where shops and restaurants have recently opened, in the arches under the tracks, which I absolutely love. Such an innovative use of space, I really love when cities do that. I’ve seen that in London and a few other places. We eventually located Onibus Coffee, at the end of a side street but right below the train tracks, in a beautiful spot. There’s a sitting room upstairs, but it was nicer downstairs, outside with plants. The coffee was good, and it was great with the trains running by above.

We sat for a while and then went for a beer at Nakameguro Taproom, run by Baird Brewing. The beer was fine but the taproom was extremely generic and corporate. We were planning to get dinner but I wanted to hear music and the only good venue I could find opened at 6:15, so we stopped for a couple of onigiri at a konbini and took the train to Shinjuku, where we walked through Kabukicho, the entertainment district, with lots of lights, past the Robot Restaurant, a major tourist attraction for some reason. The red light district felt seedier, but not in a dangerous or a fun way, more just touristy and scammy and scuzzy (and probably some other descriptive s words). We kept walking and found the venue, Loft (the Shinjuku Loft, which is part of a small group of venues, including Shelter). We entered (two floors down) and they told us to go back up for tickets. We went up and the guy outside told us to wait and then after a couple minutes sent us down where I paid and we got drink tickets and entered. All the coin lockers were already taken so we just threw our stuff on top of one. I wasn’t too worried.

The space felt like an old concert space from a few decades ago. There was a DJ with a little disco ball, the stage with a big screen playing Ramones music videos and seemingly random movie clips with Japanese music overlaid. The bar was in the back by the entrance, and there was a big standing floor and two tiers of steps behind it where people stood. There was a big pillar blocking part of the room from view. The crowd gradually filled in the floor as people found their desired viewing spots. I didn’t know what to expect when the music started, so we stood in front of the pillar, towards the back of the floor. I wonder if the space really is old or just made to look that way. I think probably a mix.

The Tomboys came on first, a few minutes after 7. The shows really do start early here. 7 is on the later side. The Tomboys are 4 girls who started playing in high school. They were very lively and having a lot of fun. They played only a few quick songs and then there was a sudden break, and a few minutes later The 50 Kaitenz came out. They are three guys dressed in caps and what I think are schoolboy outfits. They were very playful and very sweaty, and really rocked.

It’s funny when they sing in English. Some of the songs are one or the other and some are mixed. I didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying or when the DJ was introducing them but that almost made it more interesting.

There were mostly men in the crowd, especially on the dance floor. The front, where eventually there was some moshing, was almost exclusively drunk younger guys (maybe 20s and 30s but could be older or younger). There were a couple little kids with their parents (not in the front, thankfully) and only one or two other white people that I could see, older guys on their own.

There was a no-photo policy and people were mostly off their phones, which was awesome, even though the rule didn’t seem to be strictly enforced. I tried my best to comply, but took a couple of videos for posterity. I bought a 50 Kaitenz tote and a couple of Tomboys stickers/pins. There was all kinds of weird merch, magazines, clothes, old cameras and things. I think it was a “flea market.” People seemed into it. The main area was nonsmoking which was cool; there were a smoking room and a bar next door but the main concert area was clear. A lot of people were just kinda standing but everyone was really, really into it. There wasn’t as much dancing for the Tomboys but when the 50 Kaitenz came on, people towards the front went nuts. I really felt the energy, all the way through. The three of them were so into it, and they were really working, which made you want to move even more. The crowd was so mixed, and everyone also seemed to be dancing in almost harmony, raising their arms at the same time and singing along.

The Tomboys came back out at the end and they played Rock and Roll High School all together, which I of course loved and could actually sing along to. They were so good. I imagine that’s kind of what the 70s was were like at home in some way. Obviously much more toned down and safe and chill, but the energy, in some way, felt similar. I would have gone into the front but I don’t really need to mosh with a few dozen incredibly inebriated Japanese men. But it was so fun and they were having such a good time. It really is like a blast from the past. I feel that a lot of the music scene here (and probably not just music) involves a lot of nostalgia for past eras. I’m not sure you could find this exactly at home; especially a crowd full of younger people who are so, so into it. But maybe, hopefully. I’m certainly going to look. The energy was pretty cool, and I really, really enjoyed it. I could spend a couple of weeks in Tokyo exploring the live house scene.

The concert ended pretty early and we walked through the entertainment district again, which had only gotten busier and grosser (I’m not sure I’d want to be there really late at night, not for safety purposes but just because it felt slimy), to the train, where we braced ourselves for another long ride home.

Rockin,
Alex

We slept in after all the meat we consumed the night before. The room was so small our beds took up the entire floor (literally, the mattresses were side by side), and the temperature kept changing, so it was a bit hard to sleep. I sound like I’m complaining and I hope I don’t do that constantly. Really, I just complain about small things like this because I have few, if any, more significant problems or challenges. It’s also fun to criticize. But really, the bed doesn’t matter, it’s just a place to sleep, and what’s important are all the experiences. We left late and took the train a couple stops to just south of Ueno, where we found coffee and toast (we didn’t want much more) at a kissaten, Caffe Lapin. Kissaten are old-style coffee shops that are often smoke-filled and traditional. This one was smoke free and friendly, and we sat at the counter and watched the owners (it feels wrong calling them baristas) make our very good pour overs, using water from kettles boiling away on a stove.

It’s striking how quiet the city is everywhere. For the biggest city in the world, the lack of noise is startling. You get car and truck sounds, but not much else. I will also never get over how long the lights are, especially for pedestrians. For a city (and country) that has invested so much into emphasizing public transportation, the pedestrian experience is rough. Many streets don’t have real sidewalks, bikes run you off the road, and the lights are often minutes long. Again, contradictions.

We walked up to Ueno Park, which houses a zoo, a big pond and a number of important Tokyo museums. We walked around Shinobazu Pond, which was pleasant but would be nicer if all the plants weren’t dead and brown. You can take a swan boat out, which only a couple of people were doing. We walked up to the main promenade and to the end, where the Tokyo National Museum occupies a handful of massive buildings. There’s definitely some European influence here (in Tokyo), with British and German and French all melding together. But the dominant foreign influence, of course, is American.

The 2nd floor of the Museum, which I think houses its main exhibit, was closed for cleaning. I love that I can still use my student discount. As far as the museum collection goes, the swords, many with intricate designs, were very cool, and I also really admired some of the ceramics. The main building was stifling hot, a departure from the usual cool, clean air of a museum. I couldn’t spend too long, and the dryness of the layout and exhibits didn’t help.

There was an exhibit on the Ainu and Ryukyu (two native peoples) that left me speechless. It talked about the Ainu in the past tense, as if they were an ancient people long extinct rather than a still existing group of people who have largely been forcibly assimilated into Japanese society. The Japanese really don’t take much accountability (“the Manchurian incident” is what they call the entire invasion of Manchuria in 1931, rather than just the inciting event), is how Jake described it. The framing is so passive.

One thing I found really interesting was the small modern wing, which talked about how Japanese artists wanted to be taken seriously by the West and looked to the Western art world for inspiration (in the late 19th century) but added their own twists, and the thoughts and inspirations of the individual began to appear (which hadn’t before been a concept in Japanese art).

The Asian Art building, housing art from other parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, was no better, and we walked out of the park to check out SCAI the Bathhouse, a contemporary art gallery in a former bathhouse. Google said it was open but I sadly found a building covered head to toe in scaffolding, where a sign told me the gallery is closed for the winter holidays. Such is life in Japan. The space sounded really cool, so that was a small disappointment. We walked back into the park to the National Museum of Western Art. The building was supposed to be cool architecturally; but I found it kind of boring. Neither of us had the stamina to enter, so instead we took the subway to Shimo-Kitazawa, a neighborhood in southwestern Tokyo that I really wanted to explore. We transferred at Shinjuku, which was crowded already at 3:30. But we got seats on the Yamanote loop line for the couple of stops to Shimo-Kitazawa.

We first stopped at Bear Pond Espresso, on a quiet street a couple blocks from the main drag. It was a pretty intense place. The owner is very exact, and according to legend he’s the only one who’s allowed to touch the espresso machine. There’s a strict no-photos policy that I didn’t test. He also has a signature drink, the “angel stain,” that he makes only ten of a day (you have to arrive early and needless to say, we didn’t). I had a “cold brew” that was somewhere between cold brew and iced coffee and very mediocre, but then I tried the Dirty, one of his signature drinks, which is layered cold milk and shots of espresso, in a little ball jar. It was good and really interesting. I almost bought my dad the “Dirty” t-shirt but didn’t. I doubt it would fit anyway.

We walked through the streets of Shimo-Kitazawa, which are lined with vintage shops and cafes. There’s a ton of construction, and it’s clearly a neighborhood in flux. We stopped in Flash Disk Ranch record shop, which sounded like one of the best in Tokyo. The shop owner was helpful and spoke perfect English, and he reminded me of any kind of grouchy but really caring record store owner I’ve ever met. He didn’t have any Blue Hearts or 5678s records, but he had some other Japanese bands that he recommended. He told me about all the bands that used to (and still do) come into his store and hang out and buy records.

The owner was talking to another guy for a while and then asked if I wanted to hear some female punk tonight. Coincidentally, the concert I was planning on happened to be the same show, at Shelter, one of many live houses in the area. Live houses are smaller live music venues in Tokyo, and can be found all over the city, often in basements or other small spaces. They’re concentrated in a few areas, including Shimo-Kitazawa. A live house is different than a club, and mostly features rock, jazz, blues and similar kinds of live music.

The guy he was talking to is S-Ken, the producer for BimBamBoom, the female punk (more like rock mixed with jazz) band, as well as many others. He’s produced 180 records and released 7 of his own, and seems to be fairly influential in the music scene here. He gave me his number and told me to call if I had any problems getting into the show. After the record shop, we tried to buy tickets for Shelter at a Lawson, because apparently you can buy tickets for concerts at Lawson stores, but we weren’t able to figure it out, even after asking a couple of salespeople for help. Fun fact: Lawson began in Ohio but couldn’t make it in the US, even though there are over 14,000 stores in Japan, out of more than 50,000 konbini (mostly 7 Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart).

We walked to Kazenori Merry (it might be called Ushitora 2), on the second floor of a building, for beer and food. The only people inside were two local women, who beckoned us inside and helped us order. The beer comes from Ushitora, next door, where the owner worked and is still involved. He chooses all the beers himself, most of which come from Ushitora and some other local breweries, and a few from the U.S. and Europe (which I didn’t even want to try). I started with the Ushitora AKB 8.4, a really good double IPA (8%) that was just hoppy enough but really flavorful. Then I had the TDM #7 IPA, from Kanagawa, which was very fruity but really tasty. I asked for the Everybody Say IPA, from Hop Kotan in Hokkaido, but it kicked, so I only got a taste.

We also ordered some food. We were in desperate need of veggies so we had some broccoli. I also had tofu oden and the guy gave us radish oden that was his favorite, and quite good. Then we had chicken with yuzu pepper that was reminiscent of the chicken from the yatai in Fukuoka (although nowhere near as good). The last beer I tried was a Brut IPA from Ushitora (Tang Land, 6%) that was among the better Brut IPAs I’ve ever had. The two women talked to us as we ate and drank. Kara, the more talkative one, lived in New York for a while and was born in Hawaii, and I think she was hitting on me until she realized how old we were. Her friend is doing an online MBA at UMass, and wanted to know about the job search. She said that most Japanese graduates have jobs lined up before they leave school. They eventually left and we hung out for a little longer.

I really loved the place, and the owner was so friendly, even with limited English. I had another Brut IPA before heading out, and the place was so local and fun that I almost didn’t want to leave, but we wanted to get to Shelter before the doors opened at 6:15.

It’s a good thing we arrived early because the show was sold out. Luckily, I showed the guy at the door the slip of paper with S-Ken’s name and number on it, and after he went inside, he came back out and ushered us inside, in front of most of the people with tickets. I had expected to pay ¥8000 for the two of us, but they only asked me for ¥3200 and I didn’t complain. S-Ken really came through, and I was so thankful I’d gone to the record store and chatted with the guy. We were so, so lucky, because we really shouldn’t have gotten in.

The venue was so interesting. It’s in a former bomb shelter, and it has maybe room for 100 people, if that, in one open area in front of the stage. People don’t stand as close together at concerts here, which is interesting. I bought some stickers and a CD (I chose their first album over the second solely because I liked the artwork better) while we milled around waiting for the place to fill up and the music to start. I got a drink and to my amazement, a gin and tonic was only ¥300. I could get used to the concert scene here, although I guess the shows themselves are not exactly cheap.

The music was awesome. Shelter is definitely a cool venue, and pretty different from anything I’ve ever experienced. I really enjoyed the music and the place. The BimBamBooms were awesome. Female punk band. Gonna find another band tmrw night. Not much dancing. The crowd was interesting, with more men than women (even though the musicians were female) and an average (median?) age probably around 40. There wasn’t as much dancing as I expected, with people just hanging out and enjoying the music. This side of Tokyo is certainly more lively, more local and more fun. Live houses are cool because the audience is really there to hear the music and have a good time, and nothing else. The total focus is on the performers. The show lasted about 2 hours. I think most nights there are a few performers but this was a one band show, and I think the crowd was filled with pretty serious fans. The band might have made some kind of announcement at the end, but we couldn’t really tell. We made sure to stop by and thank S-Ken again on our way out.

Then we took the train and changed and took it all the way back. It was a long ride, and pretty crowded, but we finally made it. We’re staying all the way on the other side of the city. We stopped at 7 Eleven for rice and onigiri and more. I’m really going to miss the konbinis. They even heat the food up for you. Then we watched a bit of TV before getting to bed.

It feels appropriate that I spent the day at the national museum, with the history and reverence, and then went to hear some local music at a live house, one of the symbols of modern Tokyo.

Ears still ringing,

Alex

I’m a few days behind but just catching up now with decent internet and some more free time. I’m having trouble uploading photos again so I will update again in a couple of days. We woke up early and I washed before 8am breakfast. I was pretty disappointed. The breakfast included a tiny piece of very fishy white fish, some pickled vegetables, an egg somehow cooked with onsen water (I didn’t think too hard about it) and some pickled mushrooms and a couple unknown things that I couldn’t bring myself to eat. There was also shabu shabu (hot pot), but the broth was milky and there were only 2 little pieces of pork. There was the requisite miso soup, but the tea was matcha and the rice, to my horror, wasn’t plain white but mushroom rice. I’m sure it was tasty but first thing in the morning it was pretty rough. I just wanted my white rice.

After breakfast we packed and checked out and walked to Chamise cafe to find out it didn’t open til 10. We didn’t walk to walk further so we just waited at the station for the train, the “Snow Monkey” to Nagano. The mountains in the distance were pretty though the towns we passed through were less so. We did pass a number of unused older trains that were pretty cool. The Australian family next to us were laughing and joking and sometimes that bothers me but it was so refreshing to hear and see people playing around on the train and having a good time. It’s interesting what you take for granted and complain about (like people being loud on the train), but really miss when you don’t have it.

We got to Nagano and quickly bought tickets for the next Shinkansen to Tokyo, which was leaving in just a few minutes. I grabbed some onigiri from Newdays (a convenience store chain I’ve mostly seen in stations) and we rushed to the train. You only need to board a minute or two before leaving, but it really leaves on the dot. The onigiri from Newdays fell apart, and didn’t stand up to the three major konbini chains. I think 7 Eleven and Family Mart have the best food, but Lawson has good desserts and hot food.

The regular cars have both reserved and non-reserved seating. I opted for reserved to make sure we could sit together, but I think the trains are rarely full. The vibe is similarly morose in both the reserved and non-reserved cars. I’m so, so glad we upgraded to the green pass. The seats in the regular car are fine, probably about the same as one of the older Amtrak seats, but they’re extremely narrow, and I couldn’t find a comfortable position for my large body. The little window tray jutted into my shoulder, and I also felt the tilt of the train in a way I didn’t in the green seats. I honestly think it would be rough to sit in these seats for more than a couple of hours. It was still a smooth and fine ride, but the Shinkansen is really expensive without the pass, even if you book a non-reserved seat. The green car would have only been less than $30 more for this trip, and maybe would have been worth it to me, even though I was glad to check out the normal ride. The regular car was pretty full although there were some empty seats, with salarymen but also leisure travelers and some tourists.

We got off at Ueno, north of the center (the stop before Tokyo Station), and transferred to a subway, which we rode two stops north and walked a few minutes to Andon Ryokan. The hotel is in Taito, north of Asakusa and the city centers. The hotel is fine, although it seems less like a “modern” ryokan and more like a hostel, with shared bathrooms and limited amenities. The main problem was the space. Tokyo is notorious for having limited space and Andon pushes this to the limit. The room, if you can call it that, has room for two futons laid out side by side, and nothing else. It’s significantly smaller than my single at Haverford. The hotel worker tried to give us a double bed but we had booked a twin and thankfully were able to communicate that. The shower also looks quite small, so that’ll be interesting. If I was any wider, I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into the bathroom to use the toilet. Space clearly is at a premium.

We were hungry so we left and walked down through the deserted streets of Taito into busier Asakusa, an older district that we were excited to check out. On one of the streets we found a little forklift, and we took turns taking pictures on it. We kept walking and half expected someone to come running after us to yell at us, but thankfully no one did.

We walked into Fuji Ramen for lunch, on a busy main stretch in Asakusa. The very friendly older waitress helped us to order, and we sat at the quiet counter and were soon served steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen with a side of rice (I needed to make up for breakfast). The ramen was good: the noodles were chewy, there was a lot of lettuce, and the mayu (black garlic oil, although I was worried the waitress said mayo for a second) reminded me of Ippudo’s ramen. The proportions were just right, and I wasn’t too hungry or full after. The chef asked how we found the place and chatted for a second, and then said “see you tomorrow” as we walked out, with a knowing smile.

We walked through the covered shopping malls of Asakusa towards Senso-ji temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of its most important. It was rebuilt after World War II and is now one of the most visited temples in Japan.

We stopped to watch a street performance, which was fun but much more stoic than it might be elsewhere, and as I was distracted by the shops and food, a woman asked me whether I’d be interested in being interviewed for Japanese tv. Before I knew it, I was gazing into a camera and answering questions about my experience here. The cameraman would ask a question in Japanese and the woman translated into English, which she spoke very well. They asked me generally about my visit and then wanted to know if there were things that surprised or shocked me about Japan, and if there was anything I didn’t like. I talked a little about how restrained the culture is but didn’t want to offend. They were also interested in any difficulties I’ve had as a very tall person, so I gave them a couple of anecdotes about small showers and hitting my head on things and seating. I could probably have been more interesting but I’m not great under pressure or in front of a camera. The whole thing was pretty funny. I air on Japanese tv on January 29th, on TV Tokyo’s The Impossible World.

We reached the temple, which was impressive and has a pretty red pagoda, but I wasn’t awed. Maybe it’s because we’ve just been in Kyoto but I was thoroughly unimpressed. It felt just like a big tourist attraction. There were endless food stalls and little souvenir and craft shops (mostly touristy and I didn’t bother to try to find any hidden gems) and people dressed up and all kinds of things. We saw more of the carts pulled by walking men, and even a tourist with an owl on her arm.

We walked down through all the food stalls and crowds to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, which has an observation deck with a good view of the Skytree, Tokyo’s tallest structure (not really a building) at 2,080 feet. The Skytree is the second-tallest structure in the world and the tallest tower. It reminds me of the CN Tower in Toronto. Just in front, you can also see the Asahi headquarters. The smaller of the two buildings making up the headquarters has a giant structure on top meant to represent a flame, but it just looks like a turd and is the source of much ridicule. I wanted to see it as a flame, but I have to admit, it looks like no flame I’ve ever seen. The ridicule is well deserved, although I guess it could also be something totally different and humans just have dirty minds. One story goes that the architect was drunk when he designed it. Whatever the reason, it is pretty funny.

We walked to the Sumida river for the view and then across and down to From Afar 倉庫01, a spacious, charming cafe with a high ceiling, plants, big wooden tables and bookshelves filled with books on a quiet side street just off the east bank of the river. I had a cappuccino and we sat at the big central table and observed the locals (all women, mostly younger) having a coffee with a friend or just relaxing on this Wednesday afternoon. It’s nice to see people enjoying each other’s company and not working or on their phones. The barista was friendly and had to go ask what a cappuccino was, but the coffee was served in nice ceramic tea cups, there was soft, soothing instrumental music playing and I liked the pace. It was a great spot to regroup and take a breather.

Jake and I talked about how enormous Tokyo is. It’s not like LA or a similar sprawling city, but rather completely continuous. The city never ends but just continues in every direction. The Asahi sculpture looks different at night, lit up. Maybe like a carrot or a root vegetable. Certainly not like a flame. The Skytree is nicer at night, with rotating lights. The moon was really bright, although obviously there are no stars, as the light pollution is intense.

We needed to kill some time before dinner, so we found an arcade and whiled away an hour or two competing and generally trying different games out, most of which we didn’t understand. We eventually went back to Mario Kart, our perennial favorite. Asakusa felt like a worse, more touristy version of Kyoto or Kumamoto or a lot of other places we’ve been, and we were a little disappointed.

We walked through kind of seedy (at least for Japan) streets lined with love hotels (hourly hotels often used for trysts) to the other side of Asakusa nearby, where I wanted to check out a beer bar, Campion Ale, which is a British style pub run by a British guy. The beers are British style, so I tried the bitter, which was just normal but good, and the English IPA, which was hoppy but light and tasty. I like that English style beer isn’t too carbonated or cold. It’s very easy drinking beer, generally. The place, though, was disappointing. The owner wasn’t around and there were just a few locals hanging out, but not much of a scene.

There’s Christmas music everywhere, but there’s a variation. Some of it’s pretty traditional but there’s some rock and other faster versions. I’ve heard “Last Christmas,” a song I’d never heard before, at least 3-4 times so far. There are also Christmas decorations everywhere. It’s like the Japanese took only the secular parts of Christmas: food, music, decorations. I guess that’s true in much of the world.

We wanted yakiniku (bbq) again and tonight felt like the night, so we found a place in Asakusa called Tosura, with an all you can eat deal. We had stopped in earlier to make a reservation and we returned around 8:30 and were seated in an enclosed room with tatami floor seating (thankfully with a lowered floor so I could sit normally) around a grill. We started to order, and didn’t stop until our time was up 120 minutes later. I’ve spent a lot of long afternoons at my favorite Korean BBQ place in Queens, but I’m not sure anything compares to this showing. I don’t think Jake was fully prepared, but we ate and ate. The meat was all delicious, and the cuts were really nice for an all-you-can-eat spread. We especially liked the skirt steak and the pork galbi. We ordered a few rounds of shochu as we went, and soon we were full. I wanted to push through, but I ended up almost not being able to finish the last few plates I ordered. We were so stuffed afterwards that all we could do was drag our bodies back to the hotel and lie down. I call it a successful mission, I’m not sure Jake was quite as thrilled.

A couple of random thoughts from the day: I think the places I’ve liked the best have been the ones that are friendly and welcoming and open. I don’t just feel that way about restaurants, but also coffee shops, bars, museums, shops and more. I guess that’s probably true at home, too, and maybe I’m just thinking more about it here.

Jake and I also talked a lot today about all the contradictions here. There are contradictions everywhere in the world, and people and places are full of them, but we find it especially apparent here. The social aspects but also the utter antisocial nature of a lot of the things here. The ultramodernity of the cityscape crossed with the deep cultural traditions and conservatism. Tokyo is a city of excess but also limitation. Everything is so convenient, and yet utterly foreign. It’s definitely also true in the U.S. that contradictions abound, but maybe they are not so visible on the surface.

It’s interesting because I think the Japanese are friendly to tourists. They want tourists to come and see their temples and sights and eat their food and buy their crafts and goods, but they don’t want you to go further. I think life here is a bit impenetrable. Maybe if you lived here it would be different, although I’m not sure even then. I think most expats stick to themselves for the most part. The country feels welcoming to tourists but also guarded. There’s a line you’re not supposed to cross.

Maybe most importantly, I’ve come up with a good way to describe the food scene here. Food in Japan is like pizza in New York. It’s not that every place is the best, necessarily (there are many places that are, of course), but the floor is so high and the average is so good. You can walk into any place and get fresh fish or a steaming bowl of noodles.

Don’t know if I’ll be able to eat anything tomorrow,

Alex

We woke up late in Yudanaka. I’m pretty good with sleeping on the floor, and it’s certainly preferable to shitty guesthouse beds, but it will be nice to sleep in a really good bed at home. The baths are only open from 4pm to 9am so I didn’t shower. We walked up past the station to Chamise Cafe for coffee and food. I got a lunch plate with chicken and rice and salad and Jake had French toast. I also had a muffin with miso that was hot and tasty. I noticed a Matsumoto Brewery beer, so it must be regional and bigger than just the city. Shiga Kogen beer is also everywhere; it comes from the onsen town of Shiga Kogen nearby.

We took the bus from the station to Kanbayashi, where the walk to Jigokudani monkey park begins. The bus is primarily a tourist shuttle, but I was fascinated by the handful of elderly townsfolk who clearly used the bus as their primary form of transportation.

Jigokudani monkey park is a main attraction in Yamanouchi and apparently famous. It was founded in 1964, and about 160 Japanese macaque monkeys live there. It’s famous because the monkeys are known to bathe in the local onsen (they originally entered onsens at hotels but one was built for them, thankfully).

We had a beautiful walk through snow covered trees and forest, with a river below. All of the people we passed were heading back the other way. I think most people go in the morning, so I was happy for our late start. The sun was shining and even though it was cold, it was a great walk, and was over too soon (it’s only 1.6km and surprisingly flat, which took us maybe 20-25 minutes walking leisurely). The path was really muddy, which I was unprepared for, so initially I complained. I quickly gave in, though, walked on the edge of the path as much as possible (there was a steep drop) and just enjoyed the scenery. You can hear the river a couple hundred feet down, and there was still a little green. We got to the park and converged with the river. There’s a little settlement (not sure you can call it a town) there that has a hotel or two. It’s pretty, nestled in the mountains with peaks behind.

We entered the park and I almost immediately heard monkeys. I spotted the first few along the cliff across the river. There were a few dozen people around, and the area you’re restricted to isn’t huge, but it didn’t feel crowded at all. We walked down the path and to the main section, where there were monkeys chilling in the onsen and more on the cliffs above and by the river below. A park worker yelled at anyone who got too close or who used a selfie stick (against the rules, love it) and periodically threw some food to the monkeys. They are wild animals but only to an extent; they’re fed regularly by the park workers. They were certainly much more active and wild than the monkeys we saw in Arashiyama, though. It felt much more natural. Sign after sign warns you against feeding them. It’s funny, signs here have often been extremely aggressive, and these were no exception.

The monkeys were really cool, even for someone as reluctant to praise animals as I am. They were so indifferent to the people around, walking right through the people clamoring for photos and just doing their own thing. Some were lazing around in the water but most were pretty active. There were also a lot of babies and young ones, and it was really fun watching them play and try to climb. You can get much closer to them than is generally allowed. There was a remarkable diversity of sizes and fur and colors and temperaments, I thought. Male macaques don’t stay with one troop their whole life, instead migrating among a few different troops and mating. The Japanese snow monkey is the northernmost non-human primate, and is unique to Japan. I snapped lots of pictures and tried out portrait mode with the monkeys, and hopefully one or two come out okay. It’s the kind of thing that’s so much more experiential in person than comes across in a photo.

When we had had enough monkey time, we walked back through the forest along the path, which felt much faster than the way there, and stopped for a hot chocolate and churros at Enza Cafe, right at the entrance to the path, as we needed to wait for the bus back to Yudanaka. The hot chocolate was a mix and the churros were a little weird, but it was a fine place to sit. I feel like I’ve been to places like Enza and Chamise a thousand times, cafes that act as waystations that could be anywhere, with solid but generic cafe fare and atmosphere. I don’t know exactly how to explain. Not a bad thing, just an observation.

We took the bus back to Yudanaka with all the other tourists, most of whom hopped on the train to return to Nagano or wherever else. We stopped at Lawson, where I got some wipes and cleaned my shoes off. I’m loving these Johnston & Murphy waterproof sneakers. They look a little dressier than sneakers, they’re so comfortable for walking, and when they get wet or dirty they are easily cleaned and dried. The waterproofing has been flawless so far, and while they do run a little hot (because they’re waterproof so inherently not as breathable), it’s not uncomfortable.

We sat and looked at the snowy mountains as it got dark, and then stopped at American Drug, a big drugstore that was pretty much the equivalent of a CVS or a Duane Reade. I always enjoy the vast assortments of different items here, like all the instant noodles. We went back to the ryokan to relax a bit before dinner. We scheduled our private onsen time for 7:30 tonight, so we had to eat a little on the earlier side.

There was a Chinese-influenced restaurant right around the corner from the station that sounded good, so we decided to check it out. It turned out to be empty except for the owner, who spoke no English but was very friendly. We ordered fried rice, vegetables and gyoza and I chose one of the two sakes on display. I tried to ask if it was local and he didn’t understand so he brought out his wife, who spoke only a tad more English but was able to tell me that both were from the region. It was pretty good, and the food was decent. I liked the place; it felt truly local, a departure from a lot of the places we’ve seen lately.

We returned to the hotel and changed into our yukatas, and washed before heading to the onsen for our scheduled half hour. At first I thought it wouldn’t be enough time, but the water is hot enough that you really don’t want to spend more than 20-30 minutes. By the end, you’re pretty steamy (to match the steam rising from the onsen) and want some water. It was just as relaxing as last night, as I emerged feeling thoroughly cleansed. I’d like to go to some other onsens for comparison, but this one is pretty great. I could get used to this.

We were done pretty early, so we did some planning for Tokyo and got to bed, as breakfast at the ryokan is bright and early.

Wishing I were a monkey and could sit in an onsen all day,

Alex

I woke up and took a quick shower before grabbing a taxi to Kanazawa Station. I feel like I use the same action words a lot: grab, head, etc, but I guess they’re descriptive. We had a little time before our train (I always want even more time in the station, there’s usually so much to see), so I grabbed a bento with local beef, onions and rice and a box of pressed salmon sushi that looked better than it tasted. The bento was delicious, and I also got a “cold brew” from the best looking coffee stand, and it actually wasn’t bad. The barista left room for milk and I asked her to fill the cup completely, which she did. I’ve found that often here, the answer is no, as things are the way they are and changes aren’t generally accepted (just talking in terms of food and drinks but applies more broadly too), but this was a happy exception!

We made the train with just a minute to spare and found our seats in the green car. The Kagayaki (the even more express superexpress on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line that opened in 2015 from Tokyo to Kanazawa, as opposed to the slightly slower Hakutaka) is shiny and new, and the seats were great.

I could write about (and ride) the trains for days. The green car is really wonderful. The recline is unreal, the legroom is infinite, there are cup holders I keep finding and hooks for your jacket. Some trains even have heated seats. They don’t even check your ticket on the Shinkansens, somehow they just know you’re meant to be sitting there. Curious to see what, if any, differences there are in the regular seats when we return to Tokyo on Wednesday without the benefit of our green rail passes. Happy to be getting a bit more use out of it today before the pass expires, and I’m going to miss it.

The train only made one stop (at Toyama) before arriving in Nagano in just over an hour. It took a beautiful coastal route and we were on the left, which is the water side. A lot of the route is just through tunnels, which is how it can get through the mountains so quickly, but we emerged from one tunnel a few minutes after Toyama to find ourselves just a few hundred feet from the water, and a giant rainbow arching over the sea! On the other side, snow-capped mountains rose in the distance. I didn’t know whether I should switch sides or just enjoy the coast, but I chose the latter and was content. We’re going into the mountains and away from the water, so I’ll have more chances for mountain scenery.

We only had 9 minutes to transfer in Nagano so we hustled to get to the Wide View Shinano, which would carry us to Matsumoto. The train gets its name from the green car, which offers a full view through the cab (and probably from the generally huge windows), although we were facing the wrong way on this leg, and it was dark on the way back, so we didn’t really get to take advantage.

After arriving in Matsumoto, we put our stuff in coin lockers and walked up to the river and alongside. Two quaint pedestrian streets line the Ta River on either side: Nawate-dori on the northern side and Nakamachi-dori a block to the south. There are nice shops and cafes and it’s very pleasant. It’s kind of what I expected Kanazawa to feel like. The rivers here for there most part are small, with high walls and a lot of careful architecture, but they’re designed nicely. I looked in a few of the shops but didn’t find much. I did find the amount of support for the local soccer team (Yamaga FC) interesting, especially given they don’t even play in the country’s top league.

We had lunch at Kobayashi Soba, which has been a Matsumoto staple for over 100 years, and is located right next to the Yohashira shrine by the river (I think there’s a newer branch near the station). There’s a nice view of the shrine through the floor to ceiling windows, and nice long wooden tables. The place is famous and consistently rated as one of the top restaurants in Matsumoto. I had the tenzaru soba (zaru is cold, with dipping sauce) with tempura (a huge, flavorful shrimp and 4 big veggies that turned out to include an enormous shishito, sweet potato, squash and shiitake mushroom, very nice). The soba comes with daikon, green onion and whole wasabi that you can grate yourself, with the cutest little metal grater. They also give you more already grated wasabi.

I got omori (more soba, larger) because I was hungry, and it was indeed large. There was plentiful good green tea and when we finally finished our noodles, the waitress brought us the soba-ya to pour into the sauce. I really liked the wasabi, too. One of Japan’s largest wasabi farms is outside Matsumoto, and the wasabi is not like the typical wasabi we get; rather, it’s sweet and flavorful and just a tad spicy. I’ve been working on my slurping—I think I’ve improved, although I’m still not at the point where you hear it from across the room—and after Jake described it as more using your lips than your mouth, I definitely got even better. Sometimes you just hear the loudest slurp and you’re so impressed.

After lunch, we walked to Agata Forest Park, which was a quiet, if boring, park about a kilometer east, through a shopping mall and a quieter residential area. The park was disappointing, especially in winter, but it was an interesting walk, and Jake and I had some thoughtful discussions about Japanese culture. We talked about weeaboos, a generally derogatory term (but not always) that describes westerners obsessed with Japanese culture. I associate it with the most stereotypical image of a nerdy white guy obsessed with anime and Japan, who maybe has a Japanese girlfriend but doesn’t necessarily speak the language, and really is just obsessed with a lot of the stereotypes of Japan and more superficial aspects rather than truly engaging with the culture. Obviously, that’s a stereotype too, and there are all kinds of weeaboos. It’s also a funny term.

Jake told me that something he really doesn’t like about Japan is the lack of diversity, both cultural and racial. I’ve definitely noticed subtle differences in the ways people act and dress and move around and so on, and in food, and in other things, but there is a lot that’s pretty universal and certainly a lot of homogeneity. It stands to reason that the third most homogenous country, after North and South Korea, would stand out for its lack of diversity, and I’ve actually found there to be a pretty sizable diversity in personalities and looks and general atmosphere, but I definitely know what he means.

He also said that he thinks all the places we’ve been kind of blend together in some ways, to some degree, which I also agree with, although again, I think there are more subtleties. It’s also true that we obviously aren’t getting the whole picture, as foreigners who don’t speak the language and also in the very limited time we’re spending in each place. As with everything, it’s more complicated, but there is some truth. I wonder whether a Japanese person visiting the U.S. would think American cities are all similar, but I’m really not sure. I’m sure someone has written a book about it.

I wonder why there is such a strong, homogenous culture here (in terms of actions and traditions). Maybe because of the shared language and shared history, or maybe just because of the conservative traditions that are so prevalent here. I really don’t have answers to these questions, but they’re important to reflect on.

We also talked a bit about how people engage with the world. I think a lot of people focus on individuals and their feelings and emotions, while others focus on facts (or what they perceive to be facts). I obviously have my own limitations and shortsightedness, but I really believe that you can’t get the full picture without looking at every level, from individual to systemic. Every level interacts with the others to form a more complete picture. You can’t understand a person without understanding the ecosystems they are a part of, but you also can’t understand a city or state or country without understanding the individuals residing there and making up the population (obviously, to some degree, it’s impossible to completely understand all). Facts and feelings are both parts of a larger whole. I care a lot about facts and like facts, but I’m also interested in how people act and why they do the things they do. Each informs the other.

The best I could explain this view was to use Haverford as an example. I spent a lot of time talking about people’s actions at Haverford, or people’s feelings or emotions. I also spent a lot of time talking about the community as a whole, its norms and challenges. But you can’t fully understand the individuals residing within the community without taking into account the community’s impact on those individuals, and in the same way, those individuals inform the way the community functions. I’m not sure this makes complete sense, but something I’ve been thinking about and we were discussing.

Sadly, the city’s art museums were all closed, as it was Monday. Museums in Japan seem to be pretty universally closed on Mondays, so we didn’t get to enter the Matsumoto City Museum of Art, but we did catch the Yayoi Kusama installations outside, pictured above.

After the park, we tried to go to Amijok cafe, which is supposed to have really great breads and pastries, but it was very closed. So disappointing. We walked back down one of the shopping streets to &s Coffee and Chocolate and I had a pour over which was nothing special. Jake had a hot chocolate that was weirdly thick, but we couldn’t figure out why. I think it was mostly melted chocolate.

From there, we walked north a few minutes to Matsumoto Castle. Matsumoto-jō is one of only five medieval wooden castles remaining intact in Japan (and probably the best of the bunch, imo). Construction started in 1592, and the castle was never taken by force although it was occupied by at least 6 different families. Words don’t really do it justice, so I’m including a lot of different pictures, but the castle was amazing. I think I called it “sick” about a hundred times, and couldn’t stop exclaiming about how cool it was.

I generally like castles and military history, but the sun glistening off the black and white wooden exterior and the wide moat took my breath away. I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on this trip, and that’s certainly saying something. I walked all around the outside, snapping pictures from every angle and just watching the sun and the reflection of the castle in the water. After a while, I noticed the moon sitting lazily above the castle tower, and was transfixed.

We crossed the moat and paid to enter the main castle grounds, where there were surprisingly few tourists and a worker dressed as a samurai who welcomed us in. We walked into the castle, which is just as magnificent up close, and climbed 7 or 8 sets of progressively steeper wooden stairs to reach the top. Seriously, these stairs were tall and steep for me. I can’t imagine how Japanese folks hundreds of years ago climbed them. I guess they were meant to be hard to climb, in case of a breach?

Anyway, the interior of the castle was awesome, with a lot of the original wooden structures as well as obviously restored and added pieces. A highlight was the hidden third floor. The castle looks like it has five stories from the outside, but actually has six. Most Japanese castles have a signature hidden floor, which doesn’t have any windows and was used primarily for storage but could also be used to strategic advantage. It was cool learning about the function of each floor, and also the defensive strategy for the castle. We climbed back down slowly and after I finally calmed down from the excitement, we left the grounds and walked around the castle for another look before heading back into the city.

We had some time to kill before the train so we stopped at Matsumoto Brewing, a local brewery I had walked by before. It’s not exactly a microbrewery; they sell their beer around town (and maybe further, although I haven’t seen it), but it was a tiny space occupying two and maybe three floors of a townhouse, with a small bar on the first floor and a little seating area on the second. It was dead silent when we walked in and the bartender was clearly training and spoke not a word of English, but I absolutely loved it. I tried the Setting Sun IPA, which was so surprisingly awesome and could stand up to any beer on the east coast. It was juicy and balanced, with just a hint of happiness. Japan’s take on a really solid east coast IPA. Jake tried a nice wheat bear and the castle stout, which was tasty and also has a great name, but I stuck with the IPA, so happy to have found one I liked here.

I had a couple of pints and a woman who I assume is one of the owners came out and talked to me in very limited English. I told her the beer was awesome and that I’m from New York, which always gets a reaction, and we went back and forth with thank-you’s for a minute. I think she knew she had me reeled in, so she stayed around while I looked through the merchandise. The brewery uses beautiful coasters: thick, bright blue fabric with the Brewery logo and name. I asked if I could buy one but she apologized and told me they were handmade and not for sale. At first I was upset, but I actually think it’s kind of cool. I’ll never again have the experience of drinking off of one of their coasters unless I return to the brewery, nor will anyone else, presumably. There’s something authentic about that.

I did, however, buy a 4oz glass ( I didn’t want to carry anything bigger and I like a tasting glass) and a shirt. I would have bought more shirts, but I’m unsure that even this one will fit, but I took a chance anyway. It fits now, but it can’t shrink at all. I limited myself to the beer and the two souvenirs (and a few stickers) and pried myself away before I did any worse damage. I was so happy we trekked to Matsumoto, for the castle and the brewery, but also for the general vibe of the city, which seems much more relaxed and friendly than a lot of the places we’ve seen recently.

We still had a little time before the train so we stopped at a Namco arcade on the 6th floor of a shopping mall above the bus station and played a few rounds of Mario Kart. Despite not understanding much of anything (everything is in Japanese, except for the big Thank You after the game ends), it was somehow so much more fun than at home. We didn’t mess up and were able to race each other ,and I won 4 in a row. I think we’ll find an arcade in Tokyo when we have more time and aren’t in a rush.

We got to the station and found some cheap Margherita pizzas that looked good for the train. I also found an Awesome! pale ale (no, that’s the name, but it’s also lower-case awesome) from Matsumoto Brewery. I ran to the nearest 7 Eleven to find a bottle opener and an ATM, and then we collected our bags and boarded the train. The pizza was satisfying and the beer was good, and before we knew it we were in Nagano (even with our worst delay yet).

In Nagano Station, I couldn’t really find food and we didn’t have a ton of time, so I just got a couple of beers, which I chose based on the labels as most of them had only English writing. I got one IPA that was so hoppy I almost didn’t want to finish it, and a beer with the cute Matsumoto mascot on it that I think was a pilsner. We walked downstairs to the Dentetsu line, a private line that doesn’t work with the JR Pass, bought tickets and boarded the surprisingly crowded train to Yudanaka. I’m unclear on the distinction between Yudanaka and Yamanouchi. We’re staying in Yudanaka, and maybe the larger area is Yamanouchi.

The train was perfectly nice and it was pitch black outside. When we got to Yudanaka, at the end of the line, we walked down a steep hill and then around the corner to the hotel, Yudanaka Tawaraya Ryokan, just a couple minutes from the station. The two ryokans we stayed at in Tsuwano and Kanazawa remind me more of budget inns (although certainly family-run and friendly), while this one in Yudanaka is more of a full B&B, with better service and facilities.

We checked in with the super friendly clerk, who gave us what I think was seaweed kombucha as a welcome drink and explained everything to us. We declined breakfast for tomorrow because as expected, it’s offered only at 7:30 or 8am, but I think we will have it the next day. I tried to ask to push it back a little but there’s just no comprehension of that possibility. No problem, happy to sleep in for a change. Tomorrow will be a chill day; we’ll go see the monkeys in the afternoon and relax in the evening. I was happily surprised when the clerk (receptionist? worker? Not sure what to call her, I don’t think jobs are as rigid here) told us she had reserved us a private slot for the outdoor onsen at 9:30. One of the reasons we chose this ryokan was the outdoor onsen, and I was excited to try it out.

Onsens are Japanese hot spring baths. There are thousands all over the country, of all kinds. Generally, you wash yourself completely before entering naked into the onsen. Clothes and bathing suits are forbidden (rightly so, they’re dirty), as are towels. I really like wearing the yukata. It’s like a better bathrobe. I sat on a stool in the indoor shower, where there’s also a smaller indoor pool, and thoroughly scrubbed myself before walking to the outdoor onsen.

The hot springs naturally bubble, and some are hotter than others. The one at this ryokan is great, big enough for a few people (plenty of room for the two of us) with rocks around the edge, a little waterfall, some streams of bubbles, and some grass and a fence. Steam rises continuously from the water, which I found to be hotter than a normal hot tub but not unpleasant. Maybe somewhere between a hot tub and a sauna. If anything, it was relaxing and calming. I used a bucket to dump water over me, and I got in and out a couple of times. I felt really relaxed and at peace. I could get used to this. I’ll go again tomorrow, maybe more than once, but I felt very calm afterwards, and got back into my yukata. I relaxed in the room once I figured out the wifi and caught up with the world.

Feeling relaxed,

Alex

It’s really difficult getting the heat right so you’re warm enough during the night but it doesn’t get too warm. The units require constant adjustment. We slept in for a change and around 11:30 we walked to Curio Espresso for coffee and a light bite. Curio is run by an American guy from Seattle (who looks like he’s from Seattle, but maybe 15-20 years ago) who moved here and opened this trendy coffee and design shop that would fit right in in the Pacific Northwest. His wife must be from here, and they moved back a few years ago.

I had a very good and strong Americano, served in a nice little branded mug, and a good chocolate chip cookie. I wanted another drink so I had a long black, too. There have been more places specializing in espresso drinks than I notice at home. While we were sitting and drinking our coffees, these two big American guys with their Japanese girlfriends/wives came in. They clearly were regulars, and Curio must be a popular spot for expats in Kanazawa. I’m sure there are similar places in every Japanese city. It’s really interesting that there are so many American men who find Japanese girlfriends and wives and move here. It’s a stereotype, for sure, but I’ve found it to be pretty accurate, as far as I can tell.

When we were finished, we walked to Omicho Market, a huge covered market with over 200 stalls, shops and restaurants that is essentially its own neighborhood. It was quite busy, although I saw hardly any other Westerners (at least as far as I could tell, but not many signs were in English and Kanazawa feels less filled with Western tourists than most of the places we’ve been). Seafood is plentiful here, and extremely fresh. We put our names down at Mori Mori Sushi Omicho, a popular branch of a conveyer belt sushi restaurant that offers fresh fish from the market. There were about 20 parties ahead of us, so we wandered around the market, taking in the sights.

The market was really cool. I love a market anywhere, and I think it shows a lot of local flair. Here especially, it’s cool to experience a scene that’s a bit more lively and real, but also really local. There are expensive snow crabs (by expensive I mean hundreds of dollars), fresh produce, all kinds of seafood and fish and desserts, local Noto beef, restaurants selling kaisen-don, sashimi over rice, and other specialties, and much more.

We returned to the sushi place in time to sit (I was worried because everything was in Japanese and I thought I might have pressed the wrong button when adding myself to the list, but it turned out fine). We sat at the counter and watched the chefs expertly slice plate after plate. There was a conveyer belt with a constant stream of sushi rotating around, but we almost exclusively ordered from the handy iPad in front of us. I was excited about the 500 yen salmon sashimi plate and the cucumber roll, but I quickly filled up on 10-12 little plates. The sushi had a bit more flavor than a typical conveyer belt place, and was clearly very fresh, even if it was also slightly more expensive (still a bargain). Happy, we made our way through the market again. I stopped and got a small Kagayaki wheat ipa from a craft beer stand, which was a little citrusy and hoppy (60 ibu) and a totally normal IPA. The guy told me it was from Toyama, which is a nearby city.

We walked down through the castle grounds again to the D.T. Suzuki Museum. Suzuki was a renowned and influential 19th century Zen Philosopher, and the museum was a quiet, minimalist building with spaces for contemplation and small exhibits. We sat and read some of his writings and I also read a shel Silverstein book that was sitting among the philosophy tomes. The garden with a pool of water was also quite meditative.

After the Museum we stumbled upon this delightful little garden around a pond right next door, which was perfectly quiet except for the tiniest little waterfall. A little mossy oasis in the middle of the city, empty except for one other soul, the garden was delightful.

We walked back out and down to Tatemachi street, which is lined with shops and is advertised as a cute street lined with boutiques. There are some, but more like the kind selling overpriced Common Projects and Saturdays NYC clothing, not independent local places. Eventually, all you see is chain stores as you get into the heart of the shopping district. It just feels like a giant mall that could be in any city. That’s disappointed me, although maybe I just don’t know where to look to find the little independent local shops. I’m hopeful I’ll find some in Tokyo. I saw lines out the door for shops selling cheese dogs and boba and other silly gimmicky things. All in all, pretty disappointing.

We walked back up through the castle grounds and the park again, which was as nice as ever with the view of the mountains in the distant and the relative quiet, to the ryokan, where we relaxed for a bit before dinner.

We walked a couple minutes across the river on a nice bridge (Jake really loves bridges, I’ve discovered) to Oriental Brewing, the only craft brewery in Kanazawa. I had a nice single-hop session IPA with citra and Jake had a balanced wheat ale. Then I tried the Kaga Roasted Tea Stout, an award-winning, nice and light, but flavorful 5% stout with a subtle after-flavor of roasted green tea. We also had a margherita pizza, which was small but hot and tasty. It was also like real pizza, out of an oven, as opposed to the sad excuse for pizza we had a few days ago.

We walked through a drizzle to a sake bar that doesn’t have an English name but has a big selection of local Ishikawa sake (Ishikawa is the prefecture). The server had limited English but was very friendly and we chatted as best we could. We did a 6-sake tasting, which progressed from very sweet to quite strong and dry. The junmai daijingo was my favorite, as usual. It’s advertised always as the “best” kind of sake, but it really lives up to its reputation, as far as I’ve been able to tell. We also had a small cheese plate, which was boring except for the really creamy cheese that was almost like butter.

The bar filled up and we headed out in search of a bit more food. We looked at an Italian restaurant nearby that sounded good, but it was super expensive (2200 yen for a small pizza) and looked stuffy so we walked around the historic Higashiyama District for a few minutes before returning to Oriental Brewing, where we ordered another pizza, this one with ham, tomato and lettuce. Little did we know, they created an absolute abomination by adding copious amounts of what turned out to be ranch dressing. The pizza was fine, and I was able to finish it, but the more I thought about it, the worse it got. After, my tongue was just coated with a ranch flavor. It was pretty disgusting, so we ran to the nearest 7 Eleven and I got a couple of yakitori skewers and some ice cream to cleanse my palette, which worked pretty well. There are certainly flavors popular in the U.S. that I don’t miss, like ranch! Although, mayo is pretty popular here. But there are also flavors here that are horrible, like natto. Anyway, I’m grateful for the convenience stores.

—-

I had a lot of time to think today so here are some pretty unrelated musings.

Traveling with another person is really hard but I’m also extremely grateful for Jake’s company and really glad we did this together. Even though we might not agree on everything and like to do things differently, it’s still been really great.

I’ve been thinking a lot about rules and norms. There are so many things here that are just done a certain way. I imagine change is slow, but it’s also restrictive. I thought I would really like all the rules and strictness and rigidity to a degree, but I’ve actually found it kind of stifling. I thought I’d like all the structure, but from the baskets you put your stuff in at a restaurant to the utter refusal to jaywalk (even an endless light with no cars in sight), it’s a bit much. Despite everything that’s wrong at home, I miss the freedom I have (as a privileged white man), but I also miss the disregard for rules and norms that in some ways characterizes U.S. culture.

I also won’t miss the inconveniences that come with being 6 foot 5 here. I’ve hit my head more times than I can count, and I’m used to squeezing myself into seats, but it’s a different level in Japan. I definitely will miss a lot, like the public restrooms (and the private ones and the toilets) and the trains and the timeliness and general cleanliness.

Everything really is so toned down, too. I feel like I’m on my phone a ton always, but I really make an effort to look up and observe the world passing by. I really think the young people here are so focused on their phones they have very little idea of what’s happening. I will write more about this before I leave, I think.

One last thought has to do with the driving culture here. I’ve been thinking a lot about differences, and with driving, so many places in the world are chaotic and crazy (even here, to an extent–cars rush past you just a few inches away, bikes ride on the sidewalk and drivers are fairly aggressive and rude), but somehow the U.S. has so many accidents and deaths from driving. I don’t think it’s purely about drunk driving or texting while driving or similarly dangerous actions, either. It’s a weird thing where maybe a lot of places are just used to the chaos and have adapted, while the U.S. hasn’t. Or maybe it’s the more effective public transit systems in other places, while people in the U.S. are forced to depend on their cars. I’m not really sure, but I’d like to hear some suggestions.

Anyway, I finally caught up on my blog, and I’m excited to head into the mountains tomorrow.

Both enjoying the comforts of Japan and excited for certain comforts at home,

Alex

We had our last included breakfast at the hotel and gave omiyage (little gifts) to the front desk to thank all of them for their wonderful help. We grabbed a taxi to the station area and made a stop at Kurasu Coffee, which I’d been thinking about since I’d been there yesterday. The same barista was there and she was so friendly and happy to see me again. I got a pour over with Ethiopian beans, which was quite good but light, and then another cold brew for good measure—I don’t know if I’ll find another until I’m back in the States. Kurasu is the first coffee shop I’ve ever explicitly seen use the Hario cold brew maker that I use and love, and it was both familiar and new. So great. I bought some more stickers and wanted to buy other things, like a gorgeous Hario V60 kettle in matte black that I think was a limited edition finish, and Kurasu branded dish towels in blue and white with nice designs. I held back, and was ultimately fine with my decision. I’ll see more. The barista asked me if she’d see me soon and I told her hopefully sometime. “Next time,” she corrected.

Then we walked into Kyoto Station and took a lap. The station is enormous, with a massive modern atrium and a 10-story shopping mall attached. It was also very crowded, much more than when we passed through earlier in the week. We wound up in a totally empty part of the station overlooking the main atrium, which felt like something out of a video game level set in an abandoned futuristic train station. I’ve really been seeing video game levels everywhere.

We walked down to the basement food court, which was filled with an overwhelming assortment of options. I chose a few things (a few too many, maybe) and ran upstairs, where we bought 2 waffles each from Manneken waffles, which are extremely popular, and then to platform 0 (I found that funny), where we boarded the Thunderbird to Kanazawa. What a great name. The green car was awesome, 2+1 seats and wide, with almost full height windows. The trains are pretty tall, unlike most everything else in Japan, but the windows on the superexpress shinkansens are just normal. Some of the limited express trains have actually had nicer green cars (2+1) and windows, and the Thunderbird was possibly the nicest yet.

We rode through Kyoto suburbs and quickly saw snow capped mountains in the distance. We glided along the western edge of Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Then we rode along the coast, although not on the water (Sea of Japan), through towns with mountains on either side with just the slightest sprinkling of snow. We got to Kanazawa after 2 and walked through the downtown to the ryokan, utilizing a couple of handy underground passages to bypass busy intersections (a popular, easy and brilliant design choice). Ryokan Yamamuro is run by a mother and her son, who speaks pretty good English. Both were very friendly and helpful. Our room was much smaller than the one in Tsuwano (which was actually two rooms), but totally fine.

We walked a couple of minutes (the ryokan was thankfully centrally located) to the Kanazawa castle grounds, which are really just a big park with paths leading up to the remains of the castle. Kanazawa was an important city during the Edo period and the shogunates (it might still be, but certainly not as much as it was hundreds of years ago), and it was a center of samurai activity. The castle, set at a natural highpoint between two rivers, burned down a number of times, and only some walls and a few towers and gates remain, but it’s still pretty wonderful, and thankfully the grounds were expansive and pretty quiet.

We strolled over a bridge to Kenruko-en garden, which is one of the three “most beautiful gardens” in Japan. It was built over a couple of centuries beginning in the 1600s, and it’s the biggest tourist attraction in Kanazawa. I really liked seeing the oldest fountain in Japan, and the garden probably lived up to the hype. It’s especially notable for its use of ropes called yukitsuri that support trees and branches during heavy snows in the winter, and indeed, the ropes are laid out beautifully.

We took our time walking the length of the garden and checking out all the different areas. The sun was setting, and despite the clouds the light was soft and pretty. When it started to get dark we walked out of the garden and around the corner to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, a stark contrast to the traditional arrangement of the garden and castle. The Museum opened in 2004, and it has a few permanent installations in addition to rotating exhibits.

I really enjoyed the James Turrell “Blue Planet Sky” installation, with its signature skylight. We watched the end of the sunset and the sky turn from dark blue to almost black. We were alone when we first entered the room, but were soon joined by some Japanese tourists who sat either texting or snapping photos with the camera sound on. It was a bit disruptive, and I eventually couldn’t take it and moved on. Often, it’s possible to ignore annoying actions around you, but sometimes you either have to give in or give up, and this time, I folded.

We checked out some of the temporary exhibits, which were interesting (one about suicides occurring on a bridge in China was thought-provoking) but mostly too experimental for me. I think I generally prefer purely visual work over multimedia, although not exclusively. I enjoyed the multicolor Olafur Eliasson sculpture in the garden, and the Swimming Pool by Leandro Erlich, which looks from above in the courtyard as if visitors are standing submerged in a swimming pool, but are really just walking in a chamber underneath some glass. I found it pretty claustrophobic and full of people when I briefly entered. The museum shop was pretty good, and I bought a couple of small things I liked.

Then we were really hungry, so we tried to go to a popular izakaya nearby, Itaru Honten, but when I entered to ask for a table or a wait I was instantly (and rudely) hurried out by the waiter. As I put my hands up in defeat and walked out I saw a big line of unhappy people standing to the side, clearly waiting for a table that might never open. We walked around the central shopping area (where we unluckily were—I’ve really disliked the shopping and downtown districts in most of the cities I’ve visited) and tried to find another place but had no luck with the next couple we tried.

Jake was really hungry and I hadn’t realized how much, so he needed to just find food and he found a ramen place, so we went even though I really didn’t want ramen. I wanted seafood, as we’re on the coast, but I can get some tomorrow. The ramen place was fine, if quiet. I realized that my problem with having ramen for dinner is that it’s antisocial. As opposed to an izakaya or pretty much any other type of food, you sit and focus on slurping your noodles in silence, and there’s no social aspect. I love ramen and it makes a great lunch or quick meal, but it’s the opposite of ideal for a fun, relaxed dinner.

The ramen was perfectly fine, although the broth had very little flavor or depth, but it was so much food, and I felt not great after. They didn’t have many drink options either so I didn’t get to try a local sake, which is what I really wanted to do, although I found one from Tonami, a nearby city, at the convenience store, which was a pretty decent fallback.

We returned to the ryokan and tried to do laundry. The hotel itself doesn’t have laundry, but there’s a little room in a parking garage a few doors down that has two coin washers and two dryers. I put my money in and the machine started gushing water, and it looked a little dirty to begin with, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to trust it with my clothes. Jake put his load through, though, and it seemed fine, so I put mine in and asked the merino wool gods for a little help. Luckily, my clothes seemed fine, if not the cleanest ever, and I hang dried them in the room. The drier was maybe the weakest I’d ever seen, and Jake had to put his clothes through three full cycles before they approached dryness. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about laundry again.

Vaguely clean,

Alex

I enjoyed the free breakfast again. We walked through Higashiyama and stopped at the % Arabica Coffee here, which was much quieter and more pleasant than the Arashiyama location (although it was mobbed at 5pm when I walked by the other day). I had a cappuccino, which is a drink I’ve been enjoying recently when I want something a bit lighter than black coffee, and we sat and watched the other patrons take selfies with their coffee.

We walked up to Kiyomizu-Dera, a temple complex overlooking the city in southern Higashiyama. I would have gotten up early but the main temple is under construction and hidden by scaffolding so I think I’ll come back next time. The temples and colors are beautiful but the crowds were horrendous. Jake compared it to Florence, almost like a city full of relics and history but overrun by crowds, which I think is more apt than my earlier Rome comparison. I think most of the tourists are domestic (and maybe Chinese and South Korean too). There is a modern side of the city, but it doesn’t seem to have much energy.

We decided not to pay to enter as the main building is covered in scaffolding, so we just walked around a bit and then were cornered by two middle school girls who wanted to ask us some questions, I presume for a school project or something (although Jake suggested that it was the government keeping tabs on tourist activity).

We walked down through crowded Higashiyama across the river and into a quiet downtown area between the station and the shopping/entertainment district. I passed lots of cool construction, which never ceases to entertain me. We walked to the Higashi Honganji temple, which was pretty huge. After, we headed to Kyoto station, where I got more data at the BIC Camera store, after more than 2 days without it, I felt relieved, but it had also been nice to not have the option to constantly be on my phone. But happy to be mapping again. We passed Kyoto Tower, which opened in 1964 and is the tallest structure in the city. It’s been controversial since it’s inception, and I found it to be an eyesore. It reminded me of a lighthouse, but one designed by an amateur. It certainly has no place in this city (which is where a lot of the controversy comes from), although I guess when you walk by temples located next to apartment complexes and chain stores, it’s almost moot. The modern glass facade of the massive Kyoto Station and the sight of the tower are certainly in stark contrast to the temples dotting all of Kyoto.

We headed to lunch, but the ramen place we tried first, Honke Daichii Asahi, had a line, and it sounded like it might be extremely salty (the broth), so instead we walked back the way we came and a little north of the station found a wonderful little ramen counter specializing in miso tsukumen, Ginjo Ramen Kubota. I ordered a large with an egg and a side of rice at the machine and sat at the counter, where I watched the two chefs produce two bowls of hot, thick dipping broth and dangerously chewy, thick tsukumen noodles, served cool. My portion was indeed large and I actually nearly ran out of dipping broth by the time I was done, so I didn’t really get to have any soup (which you make by pouring dashi broth into your remaining dipping sauce). Nevertheless, the noodles were firm, the egg was perfectly boiled and the miso was thick, rich and flavorful and just a bit spicy. I was also really proud of myself, as I managed not to get a single drop of anything on my bib, which I like to wear when available as a precaution. Most of the times I stain my clothes happen while eating noodles. I left happy, thinking that there should be more good tsukumen in the U.S.

We were close to the next stop on our agenda, Nishi Honganji temple, which along with Higashi Honganji, is the head temple of one of the two main sects of Shin Buddhism. Nishi represents the Jodo Shinshu sect, and dates to the 14th century. The buildings are mostly original, and they’re pretty striking. I really liked the interior of the two main halls, especially the chandelier-like golden things hanging from the ceiling. You have to take your shoes off to enter, and you’re provided with a plastic bag to carry them in, so there’s this kind of strange scene where people enter and exit carrying plastic bags holding their shoes.

I know it’s a relatively meaningless designation, but we’ve seen so many UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the last four days that I’ve honestly lost count. The concentration of major temples and shrines in Kyoto and Nara, the two major former capitals of Japan, is pretty incredible.

I really admire all the temples and shrines I’ve seen both architecturally and spiritually, and I really appreciate how significant they are for so many people and how much history they contain, but I also find myself not really feeling anything. I find these spaces more powerful and resonant than Western religious spaces, but they’re still really just cool old buildings made of wood or something to me. Some of the gardens have resonated more with me, and a lot of the quieter spaces. Maybe nature and peace are universal but religion and spiritually are subjective and selective. I like that. And I can of course appreciate the impact for the people who come here. There is something weird about standing inside the temple grounds and hearing construction and car engines.

The image of the stressed, drunk salaryman is honestly pretty accurate. You really notice it everywhere, from ramen counters to izakayas to public transportation to just walking down the street. It helps (or doesn’t) that pretty much all the men wear similar clothing. I think I talked about that already, actually, but it bears repeating. Also, people (mostly men, but also teenagers and the occasional woman) smoking everywhere is really noticeable, especially because smoking is pretty confined to restricted areas. Some restaurants and bars still allow smoking, too, although most that we’ve been to have not. There’s a lot of vaping everywhere. Jake and I have been talking about how interesting the smoking and drinking cultures are, especially because the Japanese are so strict about other drugs. Weed is obviously less harmful than cigarettes, so I wonder whether it’s a cultural thing or just conservatism and tradition.

Two more random thoughts. The lights are really so so long here; sometimes it feels like I’m waiting forever for the light to turn green. When I visited Georgetown in Washington D.C., there’s a light that counts down from 70 or so, and I laughed about how long that was. Now, that pales in comparison to some of the lights I’ve had to endure waiting for.

There are also hardly any bike lanes. People are both aggressive and also not simultaneously. They’ll run you over but won’t use their bell or horn to ask you to move to the side. Bikes act as pedestrians and even when there are dedicated bike lanes, they’re mostly ignored, as far as I’ve observed. I think many people do ride bikes (mostly without helmets), but there doesn’t seem to be the same biking culture and certainly not the same emphasis on safety, which is curious.

From Nishi Honganji, we walked to the Kyoto Railway Museum, which is about 20 minutes west of the station overlooking a huge railyard and train tracks. I couldn’t come to Kyoto without going to one of the three biggest train museums in Japan (actually, Kyoto is the largest)! The others are in Nagoya and Saitama (a Tokyo suburb), which I probably won’t get to on this trip. The museum has 53 retired railway vehicles on display, some of which you can walk through (although most are closed off). More of the emphasis is on steam trains and older cars, although there are some early Shinkansen models and more recent examples that are interesting too (The other two museums are more present and forward-looking). There were interactive models and displays, even if most of the information wasn’t available in English, and many, many children having a blast. For once, the kids didn’t annoy me, since I would have been one of them (and in a way, still am).

Outside, there’s an old turntable and roundhouse with about a dozen old steam engines, which reminded me of Thomas the Tank Engine (in all his authoritarian glory). We weren’t able to try the driving simulator, which requires you to enter a lottery for a timed ticket, or see the larger model display that happens every couple of hours, but the museum was still really fascinating. The best part was the terrace on the roof, which overlooked the rail yard. I had been standing by the edge waiting for a train to go by for no more than 30 seconds before a Shinkansen came into view. I watched for about 10 minutes as more bullet trains and various local trains came and went. It felt like I was watching a model train display from above, but it was real life.

Shinkansen

See the above link for a video of a passing train (and a Thunderbird, the train to Kanazawa). We left the museum and walked back towards the station. I decided to stop at Kurasu Coffee as we had a few minutes before our train. I was so happy I did, as they had cold brew. Real cold brew! I told the very friendly barista how happy I was and she informed me that it’s more readily available in the summer, but hard to find in the winter, as I’ve found. She says Kurasu serves it year round because some of its regulars like it. I want to meet those regulars! Even better, she pulled out a Hario cold brew bottle identical to mine (well, with the regular brown top instead of my bright blue) and poured me a delicious, smooth cold brew. I was so happy that I looked at the coffee implements for sale and settled on a nice scoop. I also got a sticker, and I decided to come back in the morning on the way to Kyoto Station for another coffee and maybe some more merch. The two baristas were also by far the friendliest I’ve encountered, especially since leaving Tokyo.

We got to Kyoto Station and hopped on the Nara line for 2 quick stops to Inari Station. From the station, it’s just a few steps to the bottom of the Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head Inari shrine (there are tens of thousands of sub-shrines around Japan). The main shrine area, where its main structures sit, was mobbed, even in the late afternoon.

Jake had a hilarious thought while riding the local Nara line to the Fushimi Inari shrine. What if people came into the train here and performed similar antics to New York: swinging from the poles, singing, dancing, asking for money. On this silent, somber car. I’m honestly not sure what the reaction would be, but it’s such a funny image.

We walked up the path through seemingly endless pathways of torii gates, which seemed to unhelpfully get taller and wider as we climbed, even as the tourist hoardes thinned out. There are around 10,000 torii gates on the main path of the shrine, each of which has been donated by a Japanese business (that has its name inscribed on the gate). The shrine is open 24 hours a day, and it takes maybe an hour each way to climb to the top of the path.

The first few minutes and first two legs of torii gates almost felt like a roller coaster or a ride of some kind, as you were shepherded along amidst the selfie stick-wielding, slow-walking, loudmouthed tourists. It was really something. After the first two sections, though, it quickly calmed down, and we walked up a bit higher, enjoying the torii-covered pathways and the natural beauty. The light was also beautiful as it approached dusk. We were both pretty tired and didn’t really feel like climbing up to the top in the dark, so we turned around and strolled back down, pausing to admire the sunset. We took the Keihan Railway (the local this time) back to Gion and returned to the hotel to refresh before dinner.

We were both in the mood for yakitori, so we tried a few places, but they were all either expensive or full or didn’t look good, so we ended up back at Tsumugi, the same place as Monday night, which was again quiet and local and great. We were so hungry, so we ordered a ton of skewers, and then another couple of rounds. I branched out a little and tried some new pieces, including some crunchy cartilage and tasty neck. I love that they brought big bowls of rice, too. It’s like they’re not just trying to get you to order as much as possible. If anything, the bowls get bigger each time you order another.

We were full and happy after dinner, and we walked briskly back to Nokishita for one last masterpiece from Tomo. It was busy and some Americans from Baltimore started talking to us, but I was pretty focused on Tomo’s wizardry. I asked him to make me a drink with shochu and he responded magnificently, with a drink made from bamboo (home distilled) gin, shochu, lemon, cinammon, coriander, lemon, and maybe some other spices, in a little rice bowl with lines running all around.

I was going to ask for another drink but Tomo walked out and announced he was making a run for more eggs. He returned in remarkable time and resumed furiously mixing his drinks. I thought the quality might suffer because of the rush, but they were the same as ever. It’s something I’m normally a bit squeamish about in the states, but I feel pretty good consuming a drink with egg whites here, especially after I saw Tomo run out for fresh ones. Food standards are so stringent here. That’s one of the reasons there’s so much food waste. I was really disappointed when I learned there’s almost no composting to speak of. There’s a lot of waste here, from food to the constant stream of plastic bags everyone seems to accumulate.

Back at the bar, we were cornered by one of the Americans, a well-meaning but awkward game developer who wanted to show us the latest production he worked on, a mobile game that was pretty much a knock-off of Clash Royale or a similar popular game. Jake got roped into playing a few turns and I pretended not to pay attention. I instead got another drink, the Botanical Garden, which came in a fishbowl with flowers and indeed reminded me of a botanical garden. It was just a really good gin and tonic, a bit floral.

Before leaving, I asked Tomo to surprise me with one more drink and his face lit up, despite how crowded it was. He returned shortly and handed me a glass filled with dark liquid and said, this is my favorite new drink, it’s a coffee negroni. How did he know!? Two of my favorite things. Like every other coffee Negroni I’ve had, it was amazing, maybe even the best. I asked him what was in it and he told me it was his own coffee gin, with very strong coffee, and Campari. I was delighted. I had had enough to drink at that point, so I said a wistful goodbye to Tomo, left some cash (I can’t get over the pay-what-you-wish policy), and returned to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave in the morning.

Wishing there was a branch of Nokishita in New York,

Alex

We once again had the included breakfast in the hotel, complete with serviceable coffee and the friendliest staff I can ever remember at a hotel. We walked quickly to the Keihan Railway station, which is a commuter train that runs frequently. We took it 3 stops and changed at Tofokuji (which is yet another temple we will probably skip) for the JR Nara line, which we used our pass to ride. We ran for it and made the train and had a very pleasant ride through the suburbs to Nara.

I keep trying to assign differences to Japan and Japanese people that I notice but no one else seems to agree. Maybe I’m just trying to find differences where there are none and people and places are fundamentally the same everywhere, with only smaller or more superficial differences. I guess that’s something I need to decide for myself.

We walked through downtown Nara from the station towards the park. We stopped at a cafe that Jake had found on the 2nd floor of a little building. It was like an old living room, with a record player and an older woman who made us serviceable coffee. I mistakenly ordered an iced coffee and it was as bitter as usual, so I had to add some simple syrup. The coffee was served in nice tea cups.

We walked a couple of blocks to the Prefectural Government Office, where there’s a free observation deck with a great view of the city and Nara Park. There was almost no one else up there except for a bureaucrat enjoying a peaceful lunch. We enjoyed the view and then descended (with a quick stop in the bathroom, where I witnessed one government worker brushing his teeth and another washing up) and walked through a very cool active construction site to Yoshiki-en, one of two gardens between Kofukuji and Todaiji, the two main temples in the area.

Yoshiki-en is free for foreign visitors, unlike its neighbor Isuien, and arguably nicer, as there’s oddly less of a crowd. I enjoyed the walk through the pond garden, moss garden and flower garden (not many flowers but a few!) and then we walked back towards Kofukuji temple. Along the main street are tons of deer, possibly Nara’s most famous attraction. They’re docile but really aggressive and a lot of tourists come to feed them and play with them. I found them pretty gross and honestly not that cute. They’re still dirty animals and pretty annoying so I mostly avoided them.

The main building of Kofukuji temple (I kept getting it confused with Tofukuji in Kyoto) was under construction. Japan is undergoing a ton of restoration work in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Even though the Olympics will be held in Tokyo, the country is preparing for an influx of tourists (even more than usual), so a lot of the temples and sights are under construction.

We walked through the merchant district with some nice design shops to Hiyori, where we sat in a brightly lit back room and ate set menus made with local vegetables and grilled fish from a nearby river. The set was wonderful, with a ginger soup, cabbage gratin, little veggie bites with different greens and sauces, miso soup, rice (maybe wild rice), tempura, a taro ball and a little white fish that was served whole. I messed up removing the bones and had to eat carefully but everything was delicious. We also were served mochi with a sesame powder for dessert, which was good but dry.

After lunch we walked back to the main street and up towards the Kasuga-Taisha shrine. The paths were full with people and deer. Jake bought cookies (which are sold all over) and fed some deer. The deer become extremely aggressive when fed and follow you around. We saw them go for people’s bags and even hands. I avoided them as much as possible.

We walked up to the shrine, where the paths are lined with stone lanterns. It was a huge, old and important shrine (one of eight UNESCO sites in Nara) but felt extremely touristy. A sign offering the chance to “experience Japanese culture” for only a donation of 500 or 800 yen irked me.

We walked out the north side and up a much quieter path towards Todaiji temple, which is an important Buddhist temple complex in Nara. We stopped to see a couple of subtemples, one of which, Nigatsudo Hall, had a wooden veranda with a good view, and a covered staircase down. The sky was pretty nice, and it was a good day for a walk through the park, even with the deer.

We walked down through an old stone street to the main Todaiji hall, which houses the world’s largest indoor bronze Buddha (Daibatsu in Japanese). The building was monumental in a way most temples I’ve seen have not been, and the wooden structure was striking and ornamental. It was also filled with school groups, which is also a striking sight, with the boys in their black uniforms and white sneakers and girls in blue wearing long skirts. We made our way through the groups and entered the main hall, where I gazed in awe at the almost 50-foot tall Buddha. The statue was cool to see and certainly lived up to its reputation, but the even more amazing part for me was seeing the building (even if it was a smaller, third iteration that is 33% smaller than the original building, if that’s even possible) and the intricate designs that join the Buddha inside.

It was getting dark and we had seen enough for the day so we returned to Kyoto via the Kintetsu line (Kintetsu Railway Co is the largest railway system in Japan other than the public Japan Railways Group). The train was a local and not as nice as the Nara express, but got us back to Kyoto quickly (we passed a couple of beautiful temples I glimpsed out the window), and we changed to the Keihan line and quickly got back to the hotel.

When we walked in, the front desk informed us that they had been able to make us a reservation for 8:30 at Giro Giro Hitoshina, a kaiseki restaurant I had read about and wanted to check out. Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner, famous especially in Kyoto, and is comparable to Western haute cuisine and generally characterized by expensive and elaborate tasting menus that run hundreds of dollars. Giro Giro offers an untraditional (I guess that would be modern) take on kaiseki, and for under $40 a person, plus drinks.

We hung out for a while at the hotel and then left a bit early to grab an onigiri for a snack. We stopped at Nokishita for a third night in a row (hey, it was on the way to the restaurant), where for the third night in a row we were both delighted by an inventive gin cocktail. Jake’s was made with cacao-infused gin, and I had one with bamboo gin, ginger beer, lemon juice, white miso, soda and Japanese pepper that had a lot of umami and I finished in a couple of sips. We were the only people there (contrary to how crowded it was the night before), so I struck up a conversation with the owner, who introduced himself as Tomo. We chatted for a while about drinks; he was curious about what people like to drink in New York (I said whiskey but also gin and mezcal and obviously lots of beer and wine) and I asked him about the idea for this bar.

He also told me that he infuses his own gins, about 10 at a time, but gets the bases from local distilleries like The Kyoto Distillery. I was curious what he would make out of a regular gin and tonic, and he surprised me again, with a G&T made with green tea gin and a nice tonic that I couldn’t make out. The green tea added just a subtle hint of flavor, so it was still instantly recognizable as a gin and tonic, but more complex. We had to get to dinner, but I got his card and thanked Tomo profusely. He seemed genuinely happy that we liked his designs so much, and I told him he should come to New York and bring his cocktails with him.

We got to Giro Giro a few minutes early and were immediately seated at the bar, albeit in the far corner. The place is informal, and I was glad we were seated at the counter instead of the toned down upstairs dining room, even if we were shunted to the corner. I ordered a shiso shochu, which was wonderful and flavorful, and watched the chefs work their magic. The three of them worked in perfect harmony, and Jake and I didn’t talk for a couple minutes as we watched them do their thing.

The first course was a piece of radish tempura with wasabi and snow crab, a nice first bite to whet the appetite. Then the real fun started. The second course was a seasonal plate with 5 bite-sizes dishes: buckwheat soba with salmon roe, a fried oyster with pickled peppers, snow crab mousse, a piece of a sushi roll with squid and mackarel, and tofu mixed with spinach. The snow crab mousse was the real showstopper, but all five were interesting and tasty.

I don’t normally love tasting menus or similarly fussy food. I like a big, juicy steak or a perfectly al dente cacio e pepe. But I couldn’t help myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the 8-course menu at Giro Giro. The chef near us made small talk but eventually warmed up (as much as I think he was capable of) and chatted with us on and off as he gently fried tempura and produced gorgeous rice balls.

The third course was yellowtail sashimi with cooked seaweed, flowers, orange radish, spinach, shiso leaf and a vinegar soy sauce. The sashimi was flavorful, the cooked seaweed was deliciously new, and the flavors mixed together wonderfully. The next course was a butterfish soup, with broccoli rabe, butterfish, thin pickled daikon, lemon, tomato, tofu with scallions, and a heavy, rich broth, that was flavorful and not too fishy. It was soothing and more filling than I expected.

The cook spoke decent English and I asked him for a local sake recommendation. He chose a delicious Danso, and I got to choose a cup to drink out of, one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I was rushed so I quickly decided on a blue cup with a cracked kind of pattern and purple line around the rim. Suffice to say, I was happy with my choice, and the implement truly enhanced the drink.

The fifth course was my favorite: roast beef with kumquats, burdock, micro greens, Japanese sweet potato tempura, pumpkin sauce and spicy yuzu pepper. The yuzu pepper was hot and addictive, the sweet potato was one of the best I’ve ever had, with a deep flavor I can’t exactly explain, and I spent as long as I could savoring each bite.

The following course was smoked tuna topped with vinegar jelly and leafy greens on a bed of sweet onion. I really like tuna in its smoked iteration, and the jelly kept its texture and didn’t soak the greens. The second-to-last course had a grilled rice ball with snapper in a red turnip starch soup (if you can call it that, it was seriously thick and starchy), with a little assortment of pickled veggies on the side to add in.

Last but certainly not least, the waitress brought us tea that I almost thought had bonito flakes in it but was just a really rich tea, and a dessert plate. The dessert was milk bread French toast with white miso ice cream, miso paste, shiso leaf, and one blueberry and one raspberry, topped with cracker pieces. The French toast was soft and chewy and the ice cream went perfectly with it. I even tried the blueberry and raspberry, and didn’t hate them. I wasn’t going to but they seemed firm and fresh and I thought I would try. A momentous occasion, to be sure.

The meal was wonderful and memorable, and the best part was that it didn’t cost a fortune. After dinner, we wandered around for a while trying to find a lively bar, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere worth entering. The nightlife here is really weird, and I can’t quite get a handle on it.I was still a bit hungry (one of the problems with tasting menus), but we ended up just heading back to the hotel and getting to bed, as dinner ended kind of late anyway.

Not full but very satisfied,

Alex