Wabi-Sabi Sole

Finding Beauty with Imperfection

Category: Tokyo

Harajuku

By

On January 11, 2017

In Cat cafe, Harajuku, Japan, Tokyo

I went to Harajuku with my neighbor and several other spouses to celebrate her birthday. Harajuku is the common name for the area spreading away from the Harajuku Station in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo.

Harajuku is known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. Most recently, Gwynn Stefani has helped to promote the area. Harajuku is “kawaii” overload. There are many shopping options. Everything from big name retailers like Nike, American Eagle, Gap, Chanel and Ralph Lauren to smaller, youth-oriented, independent boutiques. There are also lots of restaurants and cafés. Not only coffee cafes, I counted three cat cafes and an owl cafe. 

Our first stop was the Dominique Ansel Bakery. There are three bakeries worldwide. New York, Paris & Tokyo. They are famous for their “blooming cocoa.” The marshmallow is cut into a cute shape and then set into a ring of chocolate. The ring of chocolate melts once it is placed in the hot cocoa, causing the marshmallow to appear to bloom. 

Marshmallows in a ring of chocolate

Hot Cocoa

Finished product- blooms in cocoa


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To accompany our cocoa, we enjoyed lime custard cronuts. Yummmmmmm



Takeshita Street is the main boutique area of Harajuku. There was so much going on…


We walked off our breakfast in order to make room for cotton candy. Magic Mountain Cotton Candy. It was ridiculous. So many layers! 


And as a result, it was ginormous! 


How about this little cutie! 


Harajuku is on my list of must return and on Julia’s tour when you visit. If we are lucky we might see a “Harajuku Girl” or boy… 


Tokyo Christmas Market

By

On December 19, 2016

In Christmas, Christmas Market, Google Map, Hibiya Park, Japan, Tokyo, Train

Sunday afternoon Dave and I went to the Tokyo Christmas Market. We had heard it was better than the Red Brick Christmas Market we went to in Yokohama. It was a beautiful afternoon and we thought it would be a fun and festive way to enjoy the sunshine.

Here was our route. We met in Kanazawa-Hakkei and switched to the Yamanote line. The Yamanote line makes a big rectangle around Tokyo. The trains run in both the CW and CCW direction. It reminds me of the EL in Chicago. Except it’s underground.


Once off the train, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. We found a nice little Italian restaurant. Dave had calamari and steamed mussels & clams.


I had the lunch set. It was a turkey sandwich with fries and a side of lasagna. The sandwich and fries were good. The lasagna was a seafood lasagna. Gross. I had one bite and passed the rest to Dave.


After lunch, we walked over to Hibiya Park where the Christmas Market was located. The park was lovely and festive with the lights.

Notice how they make Christmas trees by using structures around the sculpted trees.


The Christmas Market Entrance.


This Christmas Market had more vendors overall. There were many food vendors and cute little shops. Like most places in Japan, it was very crowded.


The decorations on the buildings were very festive!


The German Christmas Pyramid (Weihnachtspyramide) was beautiful!

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Can’t forget a selfie with my Glühwein and Dave’s Bier!


I stood in line to visit a store so I could buy an ornament.


It was a long line and an expensive ornament. But, it’s super cute!

My favorite photo of the day was Dave with the nesting doll. Kawaii!!


Merry Christmas! Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Roppongi Hills Illuminations

By

On December 13, 2016

In Illuminations, Japan, New Sanno, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Train

We packed this past weekend in Tokyo with so many fun things. I need to rewind to Friday night in order to share our experiences in The Roppongi Hills area of Tokyo.


It took about 20 minutes with walking and one train stop from the New Sanno Hotel.


My research informed me there were illuminations on the streets and the park.  After we checked into the New Sanno, we headed out for illumination viewing and dinner.

Coming out of the station, we had a great view of the Tokyo Tower and found this amazing Christmas spider. Haha


Right across from the spider was a very illuminated Christmas tree.



The special thing about the lights on the tree and throughout the garden was they continued to change colors. It was magical.

The gold heart looks like it is glowing from above. When we got closer, we realized it was just reflecting the light. At the heart, we took a picture for a Japanese family and they offered to take ours. While the daughter was taking our picture with my phone, the father stood behind her taking pictures of her taking our picture with his camera. Too, funny.


The street illuminations were lovely! So blue!



And in the other direction, there was another great view of Tokyo Tower. 

There was a Police crossing guard to help manage traffic & tourist.


We walked to the end of the street and then worked our way to finding food. We discovered a little place that had a grill, bar and beer. Winner, winner! The chef used straw on the grill to give the meat a flame fired taste!

Building the base of fire with straw

Straw starts smoking

Start of fire

Now that’s a fire!

Seriously, that’s a fire!!

I ordered tempura blue laver (fried seaweed). It was delicious.


I also ordered a new favorite of mine. It is a bowl of rice with slightly seared tuna and a raw egg on top. The bowl it is served in is very hot. When set before you, stir it quickly to mix in the egg. The heat causes it to “cook”. Trust me, you don’t have a raw egg in the bowl! It’s delicious.


Dave ordered a sesame chicken dish and a straw fired chicken dish.


The meal really good. I would love to take you when you visit. But, I have no idea where it was exactly. We were some what down a back alley in Roppongi. Not to worry, if we don’t find this place exactly, we will find something just as good if not better!

Ginza Christmas 

By

On December 10, 2016

In Christmas, Ginza, Japan, Shopping, Tokyo, Train

Dave and I spent Saturday morning and early afternoon walking around Ginza. Ginza is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo. There are numerous internationally renowned department stores, jewelry stores and restaurants located in its vicinity. Ginza is considered one of the most luxurious shopping districts in the world. It was like The Magnificent Mile on steroids. 

It was a quick 15 minute trip on the Tokyo Subway from our hotel. 


Every day at noon the main road, Ginza Street, is closed to vehicles and pedestrians are able to walk freely across the street. 


Several of the buildings have unique architecture. The DeBeers building is amazing. 


The Sapporo building – 

The Bvlgari building. 


The highlight this time of year was seeing all the Christmas decorations. 

Check out those diamonds!!

If only in my dreams…

Let it snow!

Of course, a cat!


So many trees!! 


We had to pose for several tourist photos! 


For all my Hello Kitty fans, there is a Sanrio World in Ginza. Kawaii! 


Sumo Tournament 

By

On September 24, 2016

In Japan, Sumo, Tokyo

In August, friends encouraged us to signed up for the ITT trip for the Sumo Wrestling Tournament in Tokyo. So we did & went together! The tournament is held three times a year in Tokyo (January, May and September). In Tokyo, the tournament is held at Ryōgoku, the Sumo Hall. The tournament last 15 days and begins and ends on a Sunday. Today was the second to last day of this tournament. Our tour included transportation to Tokyo on a bus and tour tickets. I google mapped the route while riding on the bus. 


Also on bus ride, I was able to read a bit about the tournament. 


Upon arrival, we had a moment to pose for a quick picture before we made our way into the arena. 


The arena is indoors and has two levels. The seating on the first floor level are large cushions on which the spectators sit during the matches. The second floor, where we were seated, were cushioned chairs. The picture below was taken when we first arrived. There are few spectators at this point because it was the at the beginning of the event. 


The tournament consists of four different groups of matches or bouts. There are 12-15 bouts in each group. The first group are more novice wrestlers, with each group getting more advanced. The final bout at the end of the tournament determines the overall champion. An important thing to note, sumo wrestling is not divided into weight classes. There is often obvious weight differences between wrestlers. 


Sumo wrestling is the national sport of Japan. The match takes place inside of a ring that is 4.5 m in diameter. A match is won by the competitor who is able to push their opponent out of the ring first or cause them to lose their balance and touch with a body part other than their feet. The wrestlers follow a traditional routine when preparing to wrestle their opponents. They raise their legs and stomp their feet to rid the area of evil. They throw salt into the ring to purify the ring. The two wrestlers are typically very animated during the ceremonial pre match rituals. It’s almost like watching them put on their game face. This animation also helps to engage the crowd and intimidate their opponents. 

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By the final group of matches, the arena was full. 


I’m sorry… But, so much tushy! Makes me giggle. 


One piece of literature I read about the tournament described Sumo Wrestling as “a professional sport, the unique combination of ancient ceremony and the tremendous power of the wrestlers themselves makes it a marvelous and exciting spectacle.” We enjoyed the afternoon placing wageless bets on which wrestler would win. We selected them based on the color of their mawashi (belt). I’ll be honest, I was pretty good at picking the winner… 

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