After I had showered and changed, I went to get my daily dose of culture at the Tokyo National Museum. It was another gorgeous day and I had hoped to be able to go tomorrow instead, when the weather isn't supposed to be nice, but the museum is closed then. I took the metro to Ueno, and it's then a pleasant stroll through the calm and leafy Ueno Park. There was a 3.5-hour queue for something — a special exhibition, I assume — but I just had a quick explore of the museum's collection of Japanese and Asian art and artefacts, before heading back outside for a refreshing melon ice cream.
Then it was time to head west to Omotesando. Coincidentally, I exited the subway only a few blocks from one of the caffeine purveyors I had earmarked — Omotesando Koffee — and was soon sipping an excellent macchiato in serene surroundings. I'll do a full coffee round-up at the end of my trip, but if you're in the Omotesando area and craving good-quality coffee, this is the place to go.
I began to meander my way through Harajuko, stopping for lunch at Harajuko Gyōza Rō. After a short wait, I was chowing down on some delicious fried dumplings with garlic and chives. This was another Lonely Planet recommendation and although it's a little touristy, the food is good and the price is great: I got six gyōza, rice and soup for under ¥500 (about £3).
After lunch, I wandered over to Meiji-jingū, a huge shrine surrounded by beautiful gardens (no cats allowed, though, according to the signs...). From the park entrance near Harajuko station, it's a 15-minute walk to the shrine's entrance. On a hot day like today, it was lovely to be underneath the shade of the trees. Outside, there is a series of beautifully decorated sake bottles, and then once you have purified yourself at the water station, you can go on in. Today, there was a wedding taking place so I stood and watched as the wedding party processed through the centre; a lovely experience.
It was then time for some stationery and design shopping in Shibuya. I picked up a few pieces at the huge branch of my new favourite lifestyle store, Loft, and then admired the huge collection of washi tape, stickers and gadgets at the design-focused department store, Tokyu Hands. As it has proved so tough to get good coffee, as Tokyu Hands had such a good selection of fancy coffee-making kit and as the Hario V60 dripper with a pack of filters was only about £3, I decided it was worth the investment, even if I only use it for this trip.
Before I headed back to Omotesando, I sneaked into Starbucks to get a bird's eye view of the Shibuya Crossing, a contender for the world's busiest intersection. I can confirm that it makes Oxford Circus look rather tame! Ready...
Set...
Go...
Back in Omotesando, I made a beeline for Found Muji, which is a carefully curated, high-end-boutique version of Muji. I bought a couple of small copper bowls, which I think are probably for dipping sauces, but which would also make great tea-light holders.
Just across the road is the beautiful Spiral Centre —a shrine to great design. Upstairs is Spiral Market, which sells lovely stationery, homewares and even a carefully edited selection of CDs. Then there's the Spiral Garden, an exhibition space currently housing an umbrella exhibition. I have never seen any city as obsessed with brollies as Tokyo, and I come from London. All of the lifestyle stores I've visited have a huge selection, and the colourful offerings at Spiral are also for sale.
Having grazed for most of the day, I wasn't too hungry at dinner time, but I stopped off at Uoshins, a fun and funky fish shack near Nogizaka station. Unfortunately, only the specials were in English, and most were either too special or too mushroomy for my taste, but I had some very tasty deep-fried karei. So much for taking it easier today. Maybe tomorrow?
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