After lunch at Ginza Iwa, our friend/guide, Megumi, met up with us because she wanted to take us over to the west side of Tokyo so that we could get a glimpse of the Harajuku, Omotesando, and Shinjuku districts. Before making our way there, we went back to the gallery with her so that she could help us out. The gallery is run by Rocky & his wife, both of whom are artists. Rocky is a pyrographer (burns images onto wood by hand), and his wife is a calligrapher. In speaking with them, we found out that this was their last day at this location; they do pop-up galleries all over Japan, staying in one location for several weeks before moving on to the next. We picked up a few small pieces that we thought would look cool in our home.
TIP: In the event that the store/shop cannot do so, most hotel concierges can arrange shipping packages for you. We intentionally left a lot of space in our luggage for items we bought, but I made sure that we had a backup option just in case we went overboard, which we did
It was a quick 20min taxi ride to Harujuku, which has become popular for its eccentricity. Takeshita street and Cat street are probably the most well known areas, and they’re littered with eclectic shops and over-the top food vendors. My wife had a number of places tagged for the day, and our first stop was Milk, which is most known for their soft serve ice cream that’s made with Hokkaido milk. My wife insisted on dropping into Totti Candy Factory for some insanely large cotton candy bouquets. I’m not a huge cotton candy fan so we ended up getting the smallest size, but even that thing was a struggle to finish!
The streets were jam packed with people so trying to navigate through Takeshita Street was a bit difficult. The sheer density of people forced us to walking into virtually every shop just so that we could catch a breath. On the bright side, we were able to try out some really good snacks/sweets. I recommend Calbee (fresh deep fried potato chips...go with the cheese flavor), Com Crepe (creme brûlée crepe), ZakuZaku (custard/creme pastries), and Torikara (karaage - fried chicken). Omotesando ended up being another high-end shopping area similar to Ginza so we didn’t spend too much time there.
The final stop for the night was Shinjuku. It’s known for skyscrapers, nightlife, and a block of tiny bars known as Golden Gai. Many of the bars are themed, and most only seat 5-10 people at a time. We settled in on a quaint little bar deep inside Golden Gai that had 4 open seats. Right next to Golden Gai is a similar type of block that is packed with small ramen and yakitori bars. The aroma that filled the air was starting to make me hungry again.
As we walked in, we were kindly greeted by the bartender and asked what we wanted to drink. My wife responded “osusume,” which basically means recommendation. I saw a bunch of Japanese whiskey bottles so I pointed at one that I had never had before. The sheer physical proximity to the person next to you combined with the flowing alcohol means that you’re bound to make some new friends in short order. Maybe this is what makes Golden Gai so enjoyable. There were two older Japanese gentlemen that reminded me a lot of my cool, goofy uncles that would sneak us shots under the table of family gatherings when I was still in high school. We also met a friendly girl that was visiting from Scotland. We spent a few hours there with them, telling stories, laughing, and having a genuinely good time.
We tried not to stay out too late because we were moving on to our next destination the following morning. So we headed back to the hotel, made some tea and enjoyed the views of Tokyo while packing up for the next segment of our adventure.
To be continued...
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