- From Tuna to Ginza and Beyond
- 01 December 05
- Travel
- 2 Comments
After leaving the fishmarket it was time to walk to Ginza, everyone seems to catch the train here and most guide books recommend it as well, but Tokyo is a great walking city if you're reasonably fit (I just squeeze into that category....just). All you need is a decent map and you get to see heaps more than the inside of a subway tunnel.
I wanted to head to Ginza and at least pop in to Ito-Ya (a famous paper and stationery store). However, after walking 15 minutes from Tsukiji and getting to Ginza we had plenty of time to kill as the stores don't open until 10:30 (earliest) and some not until 11:30. Still settle in and have some coffee, and coffee, and some more coffee, and watch the time tick by. Luckily, Ito-Ya was a 10:30 opener. This is the main intersection at Ginza at about 9:00 in the morning, virtually empty.
Ito-Ya has a big red paperclip as it's symbol/streetsign so it's easy to find along the main Ginza drag. Ito-Ya is really three shops within a 20 metre radiusof each other. The main store (Ito-Ya 1) has 9 floors, Ito-Ya 2 has 2 floors, and Ito-Ya 3 has 4 floors. The main store sells everything from art supplies, calendars, journals, paper, pens etc. Ito-Ya 3 is the one to head for - as it has the most beautiful handmade washi, origami paper, and craft paper. I bought 5 A3 size washi - extraordinarily beautifully patterned paper - which had a great texture and aesthetic sensibility. I could've bought 555 though, there was just such an abundance of incredibly beautiful paper. The washi is so stunning that will be suggesting that they get framed. I'd love to post a photo, but again the store had a no photo policy, and the paper is now wrapped - besides I want to keep it somewhat of a surprise otherwise it would spoil it for my wife (I might take photos of the washi or scan it when I get back).
This little diversion was followed by a general amble up and down Ginza, stopping at a toy store (which was a real let down - nothing exceptional at all, no different to any other toy store back home). Time for freshen up back at the hotel, and more exploring.
After lunch we took the subway to Shinjuku, and first stop was the observation deck at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. Tokyo is a huge urban sprawl, but that urban sprawl is made up of 5+ storey buildings radiating out for several tens of kilometers.
We then wanted to explore the Shinjuku area, and fully appreciated the scale of this train/bus station area, which is mult-levels with flyovers, crossovers, walkovers and shops at everyturn.
The destination we were seeking was Times Square, home of two department stores. We found it, but alas like most department stores in one of the world's most expensive cities - the shopping was too pricey for our wallets, especially when it's wall to wall designer clothes etc. All that walking was making us thirsty time for a nice beer (or two).
It wasn't hard to find a bar where we had a cleansing ale each. Shinjuku is a very trendy happening part of Tokyo, shitloads of shops and bars.
Now for food, my colleague spotted a sign suggesting it, a restaurant was on the 7th floor of this building. He was right, it was a restaurant and they had an English menu to boot, mind you only one English menu. The place was called En, their business card was quite well designed as was the restaurant which had a real good feel and atmosphere to it.
The place filled up quickly when we got there and was full after we had ordered: marinated squid, avacado and tuna, 7 species of fish sashimi, and the house special of duck. Here's the sashimi and the first of my four Kirin beers. Beer is very popular here, and everyone drinks including most of the Japanese females judging by every dining experience thus far....what a civilised society!
In between course it was also good to look out the window and constant stream of people walking around.
To cap it all off, time to have a sake - ordering the tasting option which was three sakes from low range price through to mid range to high end price.
A few more of these capped off the night...I'm growing very partial to sake. <<Older Main Newer>>
comments
Bit worried about the last sentence .. know two Australian men who went to Japan for a holiday but never to return! Don’t forget the surprise washi paper! Wish I had put an order in also
Posted by Anonymous on 02.12.05 at 05.04pm
Detlef, your photos, like your drawings, are so beautifully composed!
Posted by Karen Winters on 07.12.05 at 05.09am