When we got to Tokyo, after being on the road for over a week, we certainly started to slow down. We were less enthusiastic about visiting shrines, museums, and other culturally essential landmarks and more into “where’s good coffee?” I started taking fewer photos, and we started shopping for ourselves and people back home. We left Shinjuku to explore the Shimokitazawa neighborhood. As soon as we got off the train, I realized Shinjuku was not a hip neighborhood, but a massive tourist area.
Shimokitazawa is an actual hip neighborhood. Samer suggested we head here, and I had read a little bit about it in a New York Times article where Olivia Munn describes it as a great place to shop. Shimokitazawa is a laid-back, bohemian neighborhood in Tokyo known for its vintage shops and cafĂ©s. When we got off the train, we found used clothing being sold in a parking lot. None of the clothes speak to me; they’re a bit too studenty, and there are a lot of Western band t-shirts. These are all things I can easily get in the States, so I shopped but never found anything I loved. We kicked off by stopping at a cafe called Bookends Coffee Service, which I thought made a delicious cup of coffee. They ask you to draw your cat on a Post-it note and post it on their wall. Monkey’s portrait now hangs among the others.
From there, we wandered the streets, shopping at thrift stores like Treasure Factory Style, Furugiya Memento, and others. It was fun, but we bought very little. We did buy some shoes from a fantastic shoe shop that sold Japanese brands.
We had lunch at a place called Dododokitazawa that I loved. I highly recommend going there and ordering a set plate lunch. I had the pork cutlet. It comes with rice, cabbage, soup, and a small amount of pasta. A few days later, I ended up eating at a place that only serves pork cutlets, so in retrospect, I would change this order to try something different, but I loved it. It was a Japanese crowd, and the lunch was good for a reasonable price.
After shopping and eating, we retreated to Shinjuku for a nap and a relatively quiet remainder of the day. We decided to use the day to do most of our gift shopping, but before we started, I decided to check out a few camera stores. If you are a shutterbug, the Japanese are the best at it. I always did most of my camera purchasing from Adorama in NYC, but stores like Map Camera in Shinjuku are an entire other level. I am currently keeping an eye out for a Fujifilm X100VI or an equivalent.
After a bit more shopping, we treated ourselves to cocktails at Bar Logue. Fancy cocktails were the first time in Japan that I had sticker shock. These can be very expensive. Additionally, the bartenders who craft cocktails take a great deal of time and care. Each drink at Bar Logue was a piece of art. The bar was small and on the third floor of a building. Sam and I were the only ones there other than the bartender. The Manhattan was perfect. Here, I had a glass of single malt from the Nagahama distillery. I loved it and wanted to take a bottle back with me, but was unable to find one.
After drinks, we were tipsy and decided to finish up the night shopping for friends and family at Don Quijote, which everyone calls Donki, a popular Japanese chain store. I’ve talked about how orderly and quiet Japan is, but Donki is their catharsis. It’s chaotic, maze-like, with music a little too loud, and with an incredibly random range of stuff for sale. Many tourists come here for gifts to take back to the US. I loaded up on many matcha-flavored Kit Kats and skin care masks, but most of the gifts we brought back came from here. This place has food, clothes, sex toys, and so many beauty supplies. Also, if you get your passport, you do not need to pay taxes.
We were loaded with gifts and made our way home for the night. Samer was full from lunch, and I wanted something small, so I got cold soba noodles from 7-11. These were good! I hate/love how good this country’s convenience stores are.