Kanda Myojin (神田明神)

I recently read Marcus Jansen’s history of modern Japan and learned that Kanda used to be a mountain, but it was levelled by Ieyasu in order to provide the earth needed to infill Tokyo Bay to create the modern port. We’ve wandered around Kanda and Jimbocho a couple of times on previous visits to Tokyo, and in 2014 our Akihabara apartment was a short walk from Kanda Myojin. The hill that the shrine stands on is still pretty steep.

We visited the shrine on a sunny Sunday during Golden Week. Before we headed up the steps in the photo above, we watched two lads race each other to the top. We walked up after them, and I think we were more out of breath when we got to the top than they were!

Kanda Shrine started its existence in the Otemachi area of Tokyo. It was originally built in 730AD, but ended up in the path of Ieyasu’s planned expansion of Edo Castle. So, in 1603, the shrine was moved to the Kanda ward. It moved again 13 years later to the top of the hill where it still resides. The current structures on the site aren’t original. It suffered extensive fire damage in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake and was reconstructed in 1934.

I thought the shrine was beautiful, with its bright vermillion woodwork and its lion dogs, nestling on the hilltop amidst the urban sprawl.

 

The frieze pictured above is on the Zuishin Mon, the copper-roofed main gate to the shrine. It depicts a blue dragon and a black turtle-snake, which are two of the four Shijin (Taoist gods) alongside the red phoenix and white tiger.

The shrine is home to three kami – Daikokuten and Ebisu, who are both members of the 7 Lucky Gods crew and considered to be particularly lucky for business people, and Taira no Masakado, a Heian-era samurai who led a rebellion against the government in Kyoto and whose head was brought to Tokyo. Local residents in the Shibaraki area, the destination for Masakado’s head, respected his defiance so much that they enshrined him at Kanda Myojin.

There is an incredible statue of Ebisu at the shrine.

Instead of Ebisu being depicted in his usual form as a fisherman, this statue refers to Ebisu’s childhood. Ebisu was the son of the gods Izanagi and Izanami, who gave birth to the many islands that make up Japan. He was born without bones and, unable to walk, he was put into a boat of reeds and cast adrift on the sea. The statue shows Ebisu in his boat riding on the crest of a wave, surrounded by turtles and fish. He washed ashore in Hokkaido and was adopted by an Ainu fisherman. His bones grew and, aged three years old, he became a god. I didn’t know that story before I visited Kanda Myojin.

The shrine, perhaps because of its proximity to Akihabara, is also associated with IT and with manga. We saw a couple of lucky charms in sticker form on sale that you could affix to the back of your tech to ward off system failures, data loss and identity theft.

More spectacularly, though, the shrine is full of ema plaques decorated with manga.

In 2012, an anime/manga/idol project started, called Love Live! which is set around Akihabara and features Kanda Myojin as one of the key locations. It’s quite something to walk through the stands of ema and see the creativity of visitors to the shrine. Some of the ema are pre-printed, but the vast majority look hand drawn and coloured. It was one of my favourite things about the shrine.

My most favourite thing, though, was the miniature pony.

Because we love Parks and Recreation, we named this pony L’il Sebastian. It turns out she’s a girl pony called Akari, and she is the shrine’s sacred horse. She’s there to carry the gods if they want a trot out. I expect that Baby Ebisu is fine riding a miniature pony, but I’m concerned about Daikokuten. Let’s not even think about how the severed head of Taira no Masakado gets on the back of a miniature pony. Akari can’t be expected to carry him in a mikoshi, surely?

I bet she takes part in the Kanda Matsuri every May, though. We were in the wrong year for the big festival and also too early in the month. The big festival, which is one of the biggest shrine festivals in Japan, takes place in odd years, with a smaller festival in the even years. In the big festival, 100 mikoshi and 300 people parade through the streets of Tokyo, around Kanda, Nihonbashi, Otemachi, and Marunouchi.

I would love to see it. Maybe one day!

Denki Bran (電気ブラン)

Electric Brandy. Now isn’t that a thing to think about? We drank some when we were staying in Asakusa in 2010. Denki Bran is served at the Kamiya Bar at 1-1-1 Asakusa, on the corner of Kaminarimon Dori (雷門通り) and Umamichi Dori (馬道通り). This Japan Times article gives a potted history of the bar and its famous drink.

We went to Kamiya Bar on our second night in Asakusa. We had arrived the previous night from Kyoto, trailing my ancient overladen and broken suitcase whose handle had come adrift going down the stairs at Marutomachi subway station in Kyoto. We learned that it is hard work trying to carry a suitcase that is designed to hold a lot and be wheeled along behind you. So we were tired, you understand, when we reached our ryokan.

Our ryokan was Japanese style, with tatami floors, futon beds and buckwheat pillows. Nothing wrong with that, but when you have never slept on a proper Japanese futon with a proper Japanese buckwheat pillow, sleep can be a difficult thing to come by. Even though the futon were luxury ones, and nice and thick, at that point my body was still conditioned to lovely sprung Western mattresses that accommodate your body when you move in your sleep. I had woken at regular intervals in the night, feeling stiff and achy, as though I were sleeping in a tent without a sleeping mat. Everything ached when I got up the following day.

During the day we had taken a trip to Akihabara where we tried to find the branch of Tokyu Hands that seemed to be signposted at the station. We failed in that quest, but succeeded in stumbling upon the then new Gundam Cafe. That was a diversion, and refreshed by tea and custard filled waffles, we headed next to Kanda Jimbocho via Ochanomizu station. We walked for a while in the wrong direction, back towards Akihabara, before realising that the book shops and musical instrument shops were on the other side of the station. We retraced our steps, trying not to think that we might as well have just walked from Akihabara in the first place, and then down to Kanda Jimbocho. We wandered among the bookshops and then caught a subway train to Shibuya to see Hachiko. Shibuya was as hectic as ever. After paying our respects to Hachiko with the other tourists, we headed off to Tokyu Hands for supplies to fix the broken suitcase with. We went wrong again. This is what happens when you are tired and in Tokyo. Despite your best efforts to read a map, you will end up going wrong. We got it right eventually, though, and made a successful purchase, then headed up the hill to find the Vegan Healing Cafe. We went right, but sometime in the past the cafe had gone wrong and was closed.

Back we went to Shibuya station and caught the subway to Omotesando, where we ate at Crayon House and drank delicious Yebisu beer. Then we caught the subway back to Asakusa. The night was still young, and we were slightly beery, so we decided that we would seek out some more alcohol, perhaps at one of the izakaya near the shrine. At this time in his life, my husband was still smoking. He paused to have a cigarette, which then led to him being tapped up for a light by a man who was waiting for his wife to have her palm read. Through many gestures he conveyed to us that his wife might as well have set her money on fire for all the good the palm reading would do her. I saw the palm reader gesture towards him at one point and his wife give a sorrowful nod, so clearly he was the source of some worry and discussion. Oh dear!

All of this is a long preamble to explain why we ended up in Kamiya Bar drinking Denki Bran. After a night of poor sleep, a day of walking that included unnecessary walking, and an encounter with a disgruntled husband, we decided that we had nothing left to lose and should try the local brew.

Denki Bran appears to be much loved by salarymen and office ladies. There were many of each within the walls of Kamiya Bar.

We decided to buy a ticket for one serving of Denki Bran each. The liqueur is 30% proof and sold like a vodka shot. You pay for a ticket and find a seat. If you’re eating in the restaurant, you can also order food. There’s a display of the food where you queue to buy your tickets. Some of the food is smiling.

Once seated in the beer hall, you wait for a waiter to come and separate your ticket deftly with one hand. He takes one half of your ticket away and then returns with the number of Denki Brans you have paid for, plus a glass of water. He then takes away the other half of the ticket, so that you can’t say he hasn’t served you. Then you drink. In some cases, you drink until you fall over. We thought that one glass would be enough. Perhaps it was the two pints of beer we’d already had, but the Denki Bran went straight to our heads. I thought it was delicious, like a smooth whiskey. My husband was influenced by it enough to roll out his Bill Murray/Lost In Translation impersonation. I have video evidence of this, but have promised never to share it publicly. I was all for having another glass until this happened. Instead we agreed that one was definitely enough and we would head back to the ryokan. Outside, I spotted the small counter at the side of the bar where patrons and people passing in the street could buy a bottle of Denki Bran and a souvenir glass. I was tempted, but Mr. Hicks had become afraid of the potency of the brew, and hurried me along before I could get any yen out of my purse. Perhaps it was for the best.

Unsurprisingly, I had a much better night’s sleep that night.

Goichi&Ichigo – a modern apartment close to Akihabara

This year we spent a full week in Tokyo and wanted to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel, so that we could self-cater. I went to the ever trusty Home Away site (links to the UK site, sites are also available for other locations internationally) and found a listing for an apartment in the Akihabara (秋葉原) area.

The pictures on the site made the apartment look stunning, and the calendar showed that it was available for the week we planned to be in Tokyo, so 7 months before we were due to travel, I decided to book it!

Image from the Home Away website (c) Tsurusaki Ayako

Contact with the owner, Tsurusaki Ayako, was a delight. We had lots of friendly exchanges about the apartment, the location, our planned trip, and it all felt like I was dealing with a friend. Because I was intrigued by the design of this apartment, and the other rooms Ayoko had available across Tokyo, I did a bit of research into the designer, who is Ayako’s husband. I found his website, which has pictures of the other buildings he has designed. 5115 Company also has its own site with details of more of their properties.

When we arrived in Akihabara, the heavens opened and we were drenched as we followed Ayako’s directions from the JR station up to the Sotokanda/Suehirocho area where the apartment is located. It is actually next door to the 5115 Company office in a Co-op building. Ayako met us at the apartment and showed us around. During our email exchanges, I’d told Ayako that we would be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary during our stay, and she had bought us some takiyaki (fish shaped pastries) from the shop down the street from the apartment block. They were incredibly delicious, and a lovely welcome gift. They’re in the paper bag in this picture, taken by my husband.

The apartment is on the 7th floor of the Co-op building, accessed from the back of the building rather than from Shoheibashi Dori. There is a lift as well as an external stairway. We used the lift to take our luggage up to the apartment. We used the stairs once to go up after a day walking around Tokyo and used the lift thereafter! Going down the stairs on our way out was far easier, and we bumped into some of the other occupants of the Co-op building, having a smoke out on the stairwell, from time to time.

The space was as stunning in real life as the images on the Home Away site had promised it would be.

There is more than enough space for a couple, and plenty of space for a group of four, as long as you don’t mind sleeping alongside each other! The double bed was very comfortable, with plenty of room for us Westerners. Quite often we have found that a double bed in Japan is actually a half-double and not really big enough for two lumbering gaijin, so it was a relief to know that we would have a good sleep at Goichi. Waking up to the sunshine coming through the bamboo blind in the morning was also a delight.

The kitchen is well equipped with a hot plate, a microwave, an electric rice cooker and plenty of pans and cooking utensils. We bought most of our food at the nearby Peacock supermarket, which as well as Japanese produce also had a section full of products from the UK company Waitrose!

 

When in Japan, though, we like to eat as Japanese as possible, so we resisted the call of home. I even shunned the English tea in favour of a Japanese brand of kocha teabags.

Also close by to the apartment, a short walk away under the railway line at Akihabara station, is a food market called Chabara. We found lots of local delicacies from around Japan to whet our appetites, and enjoyed a delicious shojin ryori lunch at Komaki Shokudo, which we’d read about on Happy Cow.

 

Night and day, the view from the apartment balcony was a good one. Shoheibashi Dori is a busy, four lane road running between Akihabara and Ueno. It gave the feeling that we were in the heart of the metropolis without being instrusive. Once the balcony doors were closed, you could hardly tell it was there.

 

 

 

The location of the apartment was perfect for us. We walked down to Akihabara a couple of times to look around the shops and to catch the Yamanote line. There was also a Ginza metro line station (Suehirocho) just around the corner that got us to places the Yamanote line couldn’t reach.

We also walked up to Ueno one day, which was a pleasant walk but longer than I had anticipated, mainly because I had misread the information booklet and looked at the page about cycling in Tokyo (the apartment has two bicycles for guests to use). Of course, it’s quicker to cycle to Ueno than it is to walk!

Just a short walk away is the famous Kanda Myojin (神田明神). We spent a couple of hours there one morning, on our way to catch the train to Odaiba for our visit to Miraikan and an up close encounter with Gundam. I’ll blog about the shrine in more detail on another occasion, because we’re hoping one day to experience the Kanda Matsuri.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking at the apartment, there are plenty of places to eat nearby, including a Jonathan’s coffee shop just across the road, a restaurant down the block and a ramen place around the corner, not to mention all the places in Akihabara. Nothing that we tried, because of being veggies, but if you’re an omnivore you couldn’t find a better located apartment.

 

I really enjoyed the week we spent at Goichi. On our last day, Ayako wasn’t able to meet us to say goodbye, so her husband did the honours instead. It was a pleasure to meet the man who had designed the apartment. I think I managed to convey how much we’d enjoyed our stay and liked the apartment in my rusty Japanese!

We’re already planning our next visit to Japan, and I think we’re going to stay in Tokyo again, probably using Goichi as a base to visit places like Nikko and Nakano, as well as explore Tokyo at a more relaxed pace. Or maybe we’ll try one of 5115 Company’s other properties!

My Japan Guide

Friends of ours are going to Japan for Christmas. I’m not jealous. No.

They asked if I would give them some hints and tips. They’re going to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima – fortunately all places I’ve been to! When I sent my list of hints and tips, it was suggested that I publish it, so here it is. It’s not comprehensive, and it is highly subjective, but maybe if someone else is planning a trip and needs a bit of guidance, it will help.

General

Prepare yourself for jetlag unlike anything you have ever experienced. The first time my husband and I went to Japan, we couldn’t sleep on the flight and ended up being awake for 36 hours. This made arriving in a country like Japan, that is so different to the UK and has a totally different way of writing its language, utterly discombobulating. It took us a day and a half to recover. The same thing happened on our second trip. On our third trip, we had wised up and bought ear plugs and eye masks, so that we could shut out the aircraft surroundings and get a little sleep on our way from the UK to Narita. It helped. We didn’t feel nearly as spaced out when we arrived as we had on previous trips. It is worth building in a day at the start of your trip, too, that doesn’t involve doing much of anything at all. I know, you’ll have travelled a long way and you don’t want to miss a moment of this fantastic country, but be kind to yourself. Let your body recover. If you can’t bear to sleep off the lag, then find a park to sit in, buy some food, and chill while you take in the view.

In terms of travelling once you’re there, the Japanese train system is worthy of the word awesome. I stand completely in awe of it. I have a friend who says that we shouldn’t be in awe, that this is how a train system should work, and we should demand the same standard in the UK. Well, yes, but…

The Hyperdia online train timetables are really useful when planning day trips or working out how long it will take you to get from one major city to another. You can narrow down the train companies, if you’re travelling on a JR Pass, so that only the Japan Rail routes are shown, and you can instruct it to take you via other places you want to visit en route. You can pick up paper copies of the train timetables at major stations in Japan, but if you have a device with you that connects to the internet, why bother?

If you’re going for at least a week and planning to travel around a fair amount, then it’s worth investing in a JR Pass before you go. The passes are only available to visitors to Japan, who have a sight-seeing visa in their passport. When buying the pass, you are sent an Exchange Order which must be validated and exchanged for the pass when you arrive in Japan. You have three months in which to validate the pass, so don’t buy it too far in advance! The UK based Japan Travel Centre has useful FAQ about the pass, and is the cheapest for buying the pass at time of posting. In the UK, you can also buy the pass from My Bus. We’ve used both companies and never had any problems. It’s up to you whether you go for an Ordinary or a Green Car pass. We’ve always used Ordinary passes – there doesn’t seem to be any particular advantage to a UK resident in travelling first class in Japan, as ordinary class is better than first class in the UK!

I recommend the Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook. I’ve already included this book in my post about guidebooks. I got it as a honeymoon present, it has a food index to help you decipher menus and food in shops and loads of handy phrases that you can either try to say or point at for the Japanese person to read. It gave me my first triumph at speaking Japanese and being understood (asking to send a postcard to the UK).

Money. Take some yen to cover your first couple of days. We budget at 10,000JPY per day and often have money left at the end of the trip. We take travellers cheques in yen and cash them as and when. Banks (and their ATMs) close at 6 p.m. and it’s hard to find an open one at the weekend. There are ATMs in 7eleven convenience stores that take UK debit cards. I found that buying yen before I went and using my card to draw yen out while I was there was pretty similar in terms of exchange rates and commission. Cash is still the easiest option, more places take card payments now, but it’s still quite rare.

Onigiri: the best convenience food in the world! Rice balls with various fillings, usually wrapped in nori seaweed. This is a guide to deciphering the labels, but if you’re an omnivore, just take pot luck. They are amazing! I have accidentally eaten fish ones and they were delicious…

Let’s talk about the weather. We have been to Japan in March, May and October. March was surprisingly cold. May was warm, building up to hot. October was warm but damp. In both March and October, we have experienced typhoons, so a sturdy umbrella and lightweight rain gear are both worth packing. If you’re going around Christmas, like our friends, it will be cold while you’re there. I have a friend who is out there teaching, and he dresses like a Michelin man during winter. If you’re visiting in winter, take lots of layers. Should you be unlucky enough to get ill, here’s my account of trying to find cold remedies that work (there are none) in Japan. If you’re going in summer, prepare for hot, humid and potentially stormy weather.

Department stores: Tokyu Hands in Tokyo for all sorts of stuff (it’s part hardware store, part IKEA, part Woolworths), Yodobashi Camera everywhere for electronics, Loft for house-type stuff, Daimaru in Kyoto for the food hall, Isetan at Kyoto Station. We’ve been to an Isetan in Ginza, expecting it to be as lovely as the Kyoto one, but it was geared very much to the shopping clientele of Tokyo’s answer to Bond Street, and not to the likes of us! This blogger has written a guide to the best デーパート in Kyoto, including how to get a tax refund if you’re buying something over 10,001JPY in price.

Tokyo

Get hold of a copy of the Tokyo Lonely Planet Encounter Guide. Again, I’ve already blogged about this little gem. It has a good map of the main tourist areas in Tokyo and useful info on places to eat and drink.

It’s worth downloading a Tokyo Metro Subway map, but you can also pick them up at any of the stations. As with having a London Underground map, it’s useful to have something to hand while you’re travelling around so that you know where you need to change lines when crossing the city. There is an overground loop line, called the Yamanote Line, which you can use your JR Pass on, but sometimes the subway is more convenient. If you don’t have a JR Pass, or you prefer the convenience of the subway, we were advised once to buy a Tokyo Metro One Day Open Ticket on days when we would be doing a lot of hopping around. Priced at 710JPY, it gives you unlimited travel on the Metro subway lines. If you know you’re also going to be using the Toei Subway Line, get a combined One Day ticket for 1,000JPY. As well as saving you a little bit on individual journeys it means you don’t have to queue to buy a ticket for each journey you make. There’s also the PASMO card, which is similar to the Oyster card in London, and enables you to use Tokyo Metro Subway trains, JR trains and buses, as well as pay for goods in some stores. It doesn’t save you any money, but it does mean you really don’t have to think about what sort of ticket you need to buy to travel.

In the past when visiting Tokyo, we’ve always stayed in Asakusa, which is in the old Edo part of town. Even if you don’t stay there (and there are reasons for and against doing so), it’s worth a visit. The Sky Tree is there, and the area has a whole lot of history.

Ueno isn’t far from Asakusa and has a huge park, loads of museums, and an old street market near the train station.

Ochanomizu/Kanda/Jimbocho are fun for a half day’s wander around the guitar shops and book shops. It’s a boho kind of area, with a university town feel to it.

We made our first trip to Odaiba in March 2012 and loved it. We wished we’d given ourselves more time to explore, as there is lots to see and do. We made a return visit when we stayed in Akihabara in 2014, visiting Miraikan and seeing Gundam again. It can get a bit cold and windy, as it’s a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, so take a coat! We took the JR Yamanote line to Shimbashi station, then rode the automated Yurikamome elevated train over the Rainbow Bridge. We chose to buy the one day open ticket for 800JPY, so that we could hop on and off the train when visiting different areas. When we arrived at the ticket machines, we had a struggle to work out how to buy the ticket – there were lots of different coloured machines for different types of ticket. Eventually, we worked the colour coding out, mainly by following instructions that said 800円 on them!

We love Kabukicho and Shinjuku. Kabukicho because it’s so garish and there are Taito Stations to while away the hours and the Yen on arcade games, Shinjuku for the skyscrapers and the photography opportunities late at night. Plus it’s where the taxi scene that opens Lost In Translation was filmed – Bill Murray’s face is a perfect depiction of the effects of jet lag.

Shibuya has an iconic pedestrian crossing and the Hachiko statue. It also has the Starbucks where a scene in Lost In Translation was filmed.

Harajuku and Yoyogi Park/Jingu bridge are no longer the Cos Play magnet of old – partly because of the number of tourists turning up to photograph the teens in their finery. It is still a great place to shop, and experience the cutting edge of Japanese fashion, along with Omotesando and Aoyama.

Atmos vs Hello Kitty Reebok trainers in La Foret, Harajuku

Crayon House (delicious food and delicious Yebisu beer, with a bookshop on the ground floor level) is also in the Omotesando part of town. The first time we went, it was exclusively vegetarian, but more recently has changed to vegetarian friendly, with more meat and fish dishes on the menu. They do still have a monthly Vegetarian Buffet night, though.

Bon  serves traditional Buddhist food. It’s quite expensive, but well worth it – this is my blog post about it.

On our 2014 trip, we discovered two more good places to eat when you’re veggie/vegan – Brown Rice Cafe, near to Crayon House, and Pure Cafe in the Aveda building behind Omotesando.

Kyoto

Kyoto’s subway consists of two lines – the Karasuma line and the Tozei line. The Karasuma line runs north-south, and the Tozei line runs east-west. Kyoto is a walkable city, but sometimes you’ve had enough walking and need to use the subway! There are also City Buses that you can ride on a loop around the city for a flat fare of 220JPY – just remember to pay as you exit the bus, try to have the right change before you get on or use the change machine in plenty of time before you’re due to exit the bus. Buses can get crowded, and not being prepared to pay as you leave can cause irritation! There’s a brief guide to how to use Japanese buses on Japan-Guide.com. There are a few overground railway lines as well, that will take you to places of interest just outside Kyoto, including Arashiyama, Nara and Fushimi Inari.

Exploring Kyoto on Foot is a good guide book, even if you don’t follow the trails.

Nishiki Market and Teramachi Dori are must-see places in Kyoto. Nishiki Market is a covered market with food stalls, craft shops, clothes shops and 100 Yen shops all mixed in together. You can try some of the food on offer, or buy a snack to eat as you browse, as well as gasp at the exorbitant prices in some of the high end greengrocers. We once saw a basket of mushrooms at 98,000JPY. That’s about £700/$1100. Teramachi Dori is a very long street stretching north to south. A mid section of it is a covered shopping arcade. It gets its name from the temples relocated to this part of Kyoto in the 16th century by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Shin Kyogoku is another covered arcade that runs parallel to Teramachi Dori.

As recently revealed, Nijo Castle  is my favourite Japanese castle. You don’t need to see another one when you’ve seen this one, in my opinion.

A trip to Kyoto wouldn’t be complete without a look around Gion and Maruyama Park. You’re more likely to see a Maiko Henshin than a genuine Maiko or Geiko, but if you time it right, you might see some on their way to work, or you could go to Gion Corner or time your visit to coincide with the Kitano Odori in spring.

Kiyomizudera is also a must-see, particularly if you are in Kyoto during the cherry blossom season or the autumn leaves season. The temple is iconic, built into the mountainside and protruding over a deep valley on stilts.

Gion and Kiyomizudera are part of Higashiyama district, which has lots to see and do if you have plenty of time in Kyoto. We have been three times now, and still haven’t exhausted its delights!

To the north west of the city centre are two of my favourite places, Kinkakuji and Ryoanji. We got there by bus as it was easier than taking the subway and then having to walk. Some people arrive and leave in a taxi, though!

For cheap views across Kyoto, head to the top of Kyoto station. The station is full of shopping opportunities, and the area around the station has some temples worth visiting, including Higashihonganji.

For traditional homemade Buddhist food, that is amazingly good value and extremely tasty, try Mikoan. Mikoan has now sadly closed following a fire. Other vegan/veggie places to eat are Hale in Nishiki Market and Matsuontoko Obanzai (Obanzai is now also closed). In 2015, we discovered Mamezen in the Shimogamo area north of Kyoto. Mamezen specialises in soy ramen – the broth is made with soy milk instead of dashi and the lunch sets we had featured yuba and tofu. It’s a little hard to find but is on Google maps, so not impossible. The staff were really helpful and made sure that I was safe from harm with my mushroom allergy! For the omnivores reading this, here’s someone else’s guide to places to eat in Kyoto!

Hiroshima

We’ve only done a day trip to Hiroshima so far. We’ve now stayed in Hiroshima for a few days and seen more of the sites, including Miyajima and the Peace Memorial Museum. I love Hiroshima, because it feels really chilled out.

If you’re doing a day trip, choose to either do the A-Bomb dome and Peace Memorial Park or the boat trip (covered by the JR Pass) to Miyajima. In my opinion, you can’t do both in a day and do them justice. We chose to focus on the Peace Memorial Park on our day trip in 2009. The castle is also worth a stroll around, and is doable with the Peace Memorial Park.

Hiroshima tourist guide.

The first time we visited the city, we ate at the fabulous Otis! tex-mex food and music bar, so good that I could have moved in! We’ve tried a couple of other places since then, including places we found through Happy Cow. Our favourite place was Shanti, which unfortunately closed in April 2014, but Namaste at the train station was also good, and Otis! continues to serve good food, of course.

Osaka

Osaka Castle is my husband’s favourite Japanese castle,  and for me is the best thing about Osaka! Definitely worth it for walking around the grounds and the views from the top.

If it’s views that you are after, then the Umeda Sky Building is also worth the short stroll from Shin Osaka station.

We’ve also ventured into the Nipponbashi, Dotonbori and Den Den Town areas of Osaka. I liked Den Den Town, but found Nipponbashi a bit too crowded.

 

To be honest, I’ve not had brilliant experiences in Osaka so far – the castle was nice, but trying to navigate the shopping areas and trying to make myself understood was a bit stressful for me. It seems a bit brash, as cities go. Other people I know love it, though.

So, that’s my basic guide, covering the things I think are important, and the places our friends will be visiting. There’s loads of information out there to help you prepare for your own trip, so happy searching!

Ochanomizu (おちゃのみず), Kanda (かんだ) and Jinbocho (じんぼうちょう)

The first time we went to Japan, I wasn’t able to enjoy Ochanomizu or Jinbocho as much as I wanted to.  All because I had eaten food from a street vendor at the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa the night before.  Thank goodness for Japanese wonder-loos is all I can say.  And their presence in book stores.

The second time we visited, I was not suffering the revenge of the tasty stir-fry, so we were able to take our time, admiring the sights, wandering from Ochanomizu and down the hill to the Kanda/Jinbocho area.

Ochanomizu (御茶ノ水) is a district in Tokyo where there are lots and lots and LOTS of guitar shops.  There are shops selling other musical instruments, too, but it’s mainly guitars.  Acoustic, electric, guitar blanks so you can build your own, effects pedals, accessories – you name your guitar related need, Ochanomizu will be able to service it.

 

Ochanomizu translated literally means Tea Water.  Apparently, the Kanda river that runs through the area was used in the Edo period to make the tea for the Shogun.

The Kanda River - its water was used to make the Shogun's tea, so it must be good!

It was a lovely walk down the hill from Ochanomizu station.  We didn’t go into any of the guitar shops, as neither of us plays guitar (although Mr. H does own a guitar, it lives behind the hi-fi…), but we took plenty of pictures because two of our friends are quite keen on them.

Kanda (神田)/Jinbocho (神保町) was where I wanted to head to, as this is Tokyo’s book district.  Strictly speaking, Kanda is a huge district which includes Jinbocho, but as a non-native I wasn’t and still am not sure where the boundaries lie.  I just know that we walked down a very long street that was full of all kinds of bookstores, from the second hand to the antiquarian to the new.

There are often book fairs held in the area, with street stalls selling second hand books.  There was supposed to be a book fair on when we visited the second time, but I think we missed the best of it, or couldn’t find it!  There were two or three street stalls selling a variety of books, all beautifully arranged and overseen by efficient book sellers.

  

We had decided that we wanted to find some books in Japanese that we already had English versions of.  I’m trying to learn Japanese, so I thought that maybe something like Winnie the Pooh (くまのプーさん or Kuma no Pu san in Japanese) would be a good place to start.  It’s aimed at 6 year olds.  I was at that point studying for my GCSE in Japanese, so allegedly had the Kanji skills of a 6 year old.  Hmm.  Yes.  Well.  Maybe we’ll gloss over that one!  Mr. H decided that he wanted some Murakami – ideally Dance Dance Dance, as he had just read that one in English.

We went into a large book store called Tokyodoshoten (東京堂書店 in Kanji, とうきょうどうしょてん in Hiragana) where a helpful man took us to the Murakami section.  Japanese books are a lot more compact than western books, and so a Murakami novel can quite often be split over more than one physical book.  We couldn’t see Dance Dance Dance on the shelves, so asked a woman nearby if she could help us.  She took us to another Murakami section and opened a drawer beneath the shelves that contained all the Murakami books they couldn’t fit onto the shelves.  She pulled out a 2-volume set of Dance Dance Dance, which pleased R.  In this second Murakami section, I found a Japanese translation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s for which Murakami had done the translation.  I will probably never be able to read it, but I bought it anyway.

As well as the pleasing size of Japanese books, another thing I like about buying books in Japan is that the staff will create a paper cover for each book as you pay for them at the till.  This is to protect the cover of the book while it is in your bag, as you read it on your daily commute, I think.  And perhaps occasionally it’s to hide from everyone else exactly what it is you’re reading!

While we were in Tokyodoshoten, I spotted their display of weekly best sellers, adorned with owls, so I had to take a photograph.

The sign reads 今週のベストセラー (こんしゅうのベストセラー, pronounced konshu no besto serah), which means this week’s best sellers.  The owl is the symbol of Tokyodoshoten.  Across the street was another branch of the same chain, with an owly sculpture in one of the support columns.

Armed with our purchases, we carried on wandering down the street towards Jinbocho station.  Even the station signs had a book theme.

From Jinbocho, we caught the train up to Shibuya, where we were going to visit Hachiko.  But that’s for another post.