Where to eat: Aoyama Flower Market Tea House
Few cafés in Omotesando can rival the atmosphere at this verdant tea shop, which sits inside the Aoyama Flower Market shop on the corner of Aoyama-dori. Flowers and plants crowd the greenhouse-like interior, where customers can sample herbal teas alongside a menu of food including open sandwiches, parfaits and French toast. Details Address 5-1-2 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, TokyoTransport Omotesando Station (Ginza, Hanzomon, Chiyoda lines) Telephone 03 3400 0887 Open Daily 11am-6.30pm...
read moreWhere to shop (and drink): Maison Kitsuné and Café Kitsuné
Café Kitsuné The Kitsuné brand has fingers in several pies – fashion, music and, it seems, coffee. Grab a well-brewed cup in the Japanese-style café next to the Maison Kitsuné shop in Omotesando, and browse records and selections from the Parisien and Kitsuné Tee lines. The décor incorporates Japanese touches like custom-made tatami and fusuma sliding doors, while the in-house barristas have been trained by Omotesando Koffee’s Eiichi Kunitomo. Details Address 3-17-1 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, TokyoTransport Omotesando Station (Chiyoda,...
read moreWhere to shop: Utrecht for that rare quirky book you can’t find anywhere else
Ditch the e-reader for a day and head out to Utrecht for some good old-fashioned book buying. This select bookshop, owned by bibliophile and radio star Hiroshi Eguchi, is well stocked with volumes both new and old, and also offers an extensive range of weird and wonderful one-of-a-kind books by domestic and overseas artists and authors. Found on the way from Omotesando Station to the Nezu Museum, it also boasts one of the largest collections of independently published ’zines inside Japan. Keep an eye on the shop’s flyers for in-store events...
read moreJapan Prefers Pets to Parenthood?
In a smart and expensive neighbourhood of Tokyo, Toshiko Horikoshi relaxes by playing her grand piano. She’s a successful eye surgeon, with a private clinic, a stylish apartment, a Porsche and two pet pooches: Tinkerbell, a chihuahua, and Ginger, a poodle. “Japanese dog owners think a dog is like a child,” says Horikoshi. “I have no children, so I really love my two dogs.” Many Japanese women like Horikoshi prefer pets to parenthood. Startlingly, in a country panicking over its plummeting birthrate, there are now...
read moreThings to do: Visit a Japanese miso factory
Okazaki City is located southeast of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture and prospered in the Edo period (1600-1868) as a castle town and an important post-station along the Tōkaidō Road. History In the Sengoku period (1467-1568), the area of modern-day Aichi Prefecture was controlled by the Matsudaira clan, who would later be known as the Tokugawa and who in 1600 established a shogunate that would control Japan’s fate during the Edo period (1600-1868). The first fortifications were built in 1455 and later moved across the Yahagi River to the...
read moreTokyo The Favorite in Vote for 2020 Olympics
The International Olympics Committee will hold a vote in Buenos Aires on Friday to decide the host of the 2020 Olympics. According to oddschecker.com, a site that gathers odds from Internet betting sites, Tokyo bests its competitors at 11-10 (meaning a successful bet of $10 will return $11 plus the original stake). Madrid follows at 11-4 and Istanbul 5-1. Throughout the past week, the three cities’ delegations have had to face questions on their preparedness and ability to host the summer games. Istanbul has been queried about recent...
read moreWhy actions in Japan speak louder than words
Foreigners are often upset when their Japanese counterparts break verbal commitments or fail to live up to the signed agreements. Where the foreigners themselves “fail” is that they are ignorant of the etiquette and ethics of the Japanese and do not realize that what they think is wrong, may be regarded as right in Japan. The reality behind a pleasing facade In formal official dialoge in Japan, especially with government bureaucrats and politicians, what you hear is generally not what you get. Rather than speaking frankly and...
read moreWhere to eat: Mi Choripan for delicious choripán
Anyone who’s visited Argentina should be familiar with choripán, those gut-busting sandwiches of chorizo sausage topped with chimchurri sauce, vegetables and other condiments. This South American street food staple makes its Tokyo debut at Mi Choripan, a garish decorated new eatery that aims to bring the spirit of Buenos Aires to Yoyogi-Uehara. The shop’s Japanese owner learned the art of sausage-making in Argentina, so expect authentic flavours and hearty portions – just the way it should be. For when you feel like eating...
read moreHow the Japanese perceive and use knowlegde vs. the Western way
Until 1990, when Japan’s so called “bubble economy” began to lose steam, many Western business and political leaders were frustrated at the continuing momentum of Japan’s economic juggernaut- and their seeming inability to understand it, much less slow it down. The feeling that Japan was playing unfairly resulted in a backlash against Japanese management practices that were once touted as worthy of copying. This irrational reaction was soon translated into political rhetoric that had a negative effect on Japan’s...
read moreJapanese design explained: Shizen and Wabi-sabi
Japanese design is famous the world over, but what is it exactly what we are looking at? I always believe if you know a bit of the back ground of things, it becomes easier to better appreciate the intentions of the designer and to appreciate something beyond face value. In this blog posting I aim to explain two different, but intertwined Japanese design principles. Wabi-sabi a form of Japanese aesthetics Wabi-sabi (侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance...
read more
Follow us @tokiotours and be the first to know when there's news!