Tokyo like a Native

Friday was a very special day for us here in Tokyo, as we met Keiko, our guide and host for a morning visit to Tsukiji Fish Market and a homemade sushi lunch. The fish market is a huge area of specialty seafood stalls both for fresh and prepared seafood. Joined by throngs of tourists and locals, we walked up and down the aisles with Keiko pointing out a wide variety of seafood, vegetables and other food items that we’d not seen or tasted before. Along the way, we shopped for our lunch ingredients — tuna, salmon, mackerel, yellowtail, wasabi root, tamagoyaki and more. We also stopped to taste sea urchin, served fresh from the shell, and fried burdock.

After shopping, Keiko took us on the train back to her home neighborhood. On the walk to her house, we passed the cutest school classes of 3-year-olds walking hand-in-hand in a line down the sidewalk. We also peeked in the window of a rice-seller, separating the hull and the bran from the white rice inside. Keiko explained that this fresh rice is the tastiest.

Our sushi-making lesson was so much fun! Keiko had us grating wasabi root using a special grating tool made of wood and sharkskin. We made sushi rice and then shaped it for nigiri and maki. 

When everything was ready, we all sat down for a delicious lunch and good conversation. Keiko told us that when she and her husband were younger, they and their three girls lived in Winnetka, near Chicago. She was also very impressed that we have Shohei Ohtani on the California Angels baseball team, as he’s worshipped as much (probably more?) here in Japan as he is in the US.

We said goodbye to Keiko and spent the afternoon in Ueno Park at the Cherry Blossom festival, visiting a few more old Shinto shrines and a Buddhist temple. Then is was back to the hotel just as the rain got heavy. In the evening, a walk to the izikaya alley for beer and bbq.

Next stop: Kiso Fukushima

Tokyo Day 4

I have to admit that titling these posts is a challenge as I have already lost track of the days and also am starting to think in Japanese. Ichi Ni San Shi Go. Today is Day 5, but I slept through the afternoon and evening of Day 4, so here I am, trying to catch up.

Yesterday: an immersive digital art experience at TeamLab Planets, the slogan for which is “Immerse your body, with others, become one with the world.” There we were standing in the rain, in a queue, with hundreds of people from around the planet who were eventually ushered into a warehouse-like space and directed to take off our shoes and socks. The art installation requires bare feet. Also, roll up your pants to your knees because you will walk in water. You may get dizzy. You must be physically fit because there is climbing involved. And darkness. And sound. Then light. And dancing orchids. Like this:

I don’t know what else to say. You had to be there.

And yes, I felt it: One with everyone. 

And no, there were no hallucinogens involved.

Tokyo Eats

Are you there, world? It’s me, Hannah. As promised, this is a guest post to talk about (what else?) food. Let’s rewind and examine everything we’ve eaten since we left LA. 

Here is some phenomenal sea bass I had on the plane. Delicious fish before we even entered Japanese airspace!

And here is a beautiful butter rose, also courtesy of Singapore Air.

Fast-forward 24 hours, and we’re in Japan. I saw a store in Harajuku called Strawberry Fetish, and that’s clearly what this country has. Here are some strawberry cakes from the breakfast buffet at the hotel, and some of the most perfect strawberries I’ve ever eaten from the basement food hall of the Takashimaya department store.

Speaking of Takashimaya, it was heaven on Earth. Here are some more of the amazing display cases we ogled at.

At the Shinjuku Gyoen park on our first day, where we went to picnic under the cherry trees, we stopped at a tea house for matcha. I also got this little pancake sandwich situation with matcha ice cream and red bean paste. No idea what it was called, but it was tasty and beautiful.

Night one brought our weary feet to a ramen restaurant near the hotel that was on my list. They’re well known for using yuzu (a citrus fruit) in their broth—it somehow makes a bowl of pork broth and noodles taste light. A miracle.

Last one for today—gyoza so tasty I couldn’t wait to take a photo before digging in. 

Coming soon: fish.