January 6th 2019:

Found a little café near the hotel (February Café) – cinnamon honey toast to start the day. The archetype of bread used for ‘morning service’ – thick sliced, pillowy, snow white. Apparently from a little bakery called Pelican, an Asakusa landmark for 75 years, their bread is in high demand each day. Toast it, then add cinnamon, a layer of sweet whipped cream and some rock sugar – wow.

Hopped the Metro over to Daimon station, and walked via the grounds of Zojoji temple to Tokyo Tower. An impressive landmark, the tallest in Tokyo until the Skytree took the top spot – and built in only 18 months. Great views, and a ‘hidden room’ experience as you head to the ‘top deck’ viewing platform – a mock up of the library room shared by the instigator and the architect of the tower, where you learn a little about the history of the building in between changing elevators. Another one ticked off that towers list!

Could have walked up the 600 odd stairs to the main deck level – but thought better of it, and walked down instead. Great way of seeing the interior of the tower structure.

Back to the hotel for a bit, then walked into Asakusa for my afternoon experience. David Bull is a carver of woodblocks used to make ukiyo-e, traditional Japanese woodblock prints. He’s been in Japan since the ’80s, I’ve seen him present a few of the Journeys in Japan programs on NHK World, and on the flight over I happened to see a documentary about a video gamed themed series of prints that he produced along with an American illustrator, Jed Henry. Ukiyoe Heroes was a very successful Kickstarter project back in 2012, and I decided I needed a few of these prints in my life.

So when I saw you could visit his shop Mokuhankan for a print party – signed right up!

A small group of 5 of us worked through the process of printing our own small version of Hokusai’s ‘Under the Wave off Kanagawa’, a print many people will recognise. David and his assistant Kawai guided us through the steps of inking each block, aligning the paper, and using a ‘baren’ to rub the washi paper against the block. David is a force of nature – extremely animated and enthusiastic about what has been his life’s work, great fun session. And the print turned out OK as well!

Stopped off in a little sake shop for a quick taster on the way back, then snapped a couple of shots of the local landmarks.

Friday 31st

Naha Airport has wonderful displays of tropical orchids dotted throughout, a nice reminder of the place you are arriving into – or leaving.

2hr 30mins flight back to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, where I was very excited to purchase a Suica card – personalised with my name! These ‘IC’ cards (SuICa, ICoca, Pasmo and others) are similar to London’s Oyster transport cards, but also allow you to make contactless payments in combinis, vending machines etc.

My home for the last few nights of the trip was the Hotel Kaminarimon in Asakusa, sadly closed for renovation until 2019. Simple hotel with traditional rooms, right next to the gateway to the shrine.  Quick trip to Shinjuku for dinner, then an early night.

Saturday 1st

Breakfast at Cafe Danke in Asakusa, tiny cafe with just 4 stools at the counter. Their speciality – Butter Blend Coffee, the beans are roasted, then steeped in melted butter before grinding and brewing. Very smooth flavour but still strong. Interesting technique! Paired with a very tasty cheese on toast.

Walked through Kappabashi to pick up a sharpening stone for my knives, then on to Ueno Park. Spent a few hours in the Tokyo National Museum, impressive collections of artwork across many centuries.

Then on to Ueno-koen (Ueno Park). I’ve visited several peaceful spots so far to view cherry blossom (sakura) – this wasn’t one of them, but it was fun! Loads of sakura viewing parties (hanami), and plenty of food and drink stalls. As you can see from the photos, much drinking to be done.

Walked on to Yanaka district, an area that escaped most of the devastation caused by the Great earthquake of 1923 and the Second World War. Many fine old buildings and temples. Strolled around Yanaka-reien cemetery, visited the resting place of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last of the shogun – fitting, as we had visited the shrine of the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in  2 years ago.

Rounded off the evening in Campion Ale, a great little brew pub run by English owners. Selection of beers all brewers in house, plus a proper handpump on the bar!

 

Sunday 2nd

Set out after a lie in and packing. Headed over to Shinjuku to try and find a Nintendo Switch for James – alas Tokyo appears to be a Switch free zone. However there were a group of real life Mario karters riding the road…

In search of another craft beer place (sadly closed at this time on a Sunday), I came across a magnificent bronze statue of a noble beast, the Tanuki Yokai. Notable for his large… package, these tricksters are legendary in Japanese folklore.

Train back past Asakusa to the Tokyo Skytree – however as it was Sunday, and school hols, queuing would have taken a very long time. So walked back to the Sumidagawa (Sumida river) to discover many more Sakura revellers lining the banks.

There were also what I only describe as floating karaoke party boats – touring up and down to look at the trees and blossom, while belting out distinctly Japanese songs.

Then on to the Sakura-bashi (Sakura bridge) where I found a local Taiko group entertaining the crowd – very talented, including the young new recruits.

And so back to the monorail and Haneda Airport for a very late flight home. Until next time…