1. Tully’s. Understated, cozy, jazzy BGM. 「アメリカノ、お湯少なめで。」 2. DEAN & DELUCA. Expensive and worth it. 3. Seattle’s Best Coffee. Very few Tokyo locations. Enjoy it at Beacon after lunch. 4. Sagafredo Zanetti. Stylish and tasty. 5. Starbucks. What’s to say? 6. Kohikan. Home to the shortest chairs in Tokyo and dated “Blue Mountain”-type offerings. 7. [...]
…some feet away from me at the bottom of Miyamasu-zaka. He’s maybe 12 years old, and bellows in short bursts agan and again as I wait for the light. The noise of the street makes it hard to hear what he is saying, so I walk over and ask him. “What is that you’re you [...]
Japan got the top spot in FutureBrand‘s recently-released Country Brand Rankings for 2008. Japan was rated 9th overall in the world and earned 1st place in the following rating categories: Nightlife New Country for Business Conferences Quality Products Advanced Technology Chances are good that most of us who live here aren’t surprised at all by [...]
Just added this Online Wine Buyer’s Guide today and will be updating it periodically. I’ve included the well-known English/Bilingual sites for now and will follow up with Japanese sites later. Enjoy!
It’s November and that means Beaujolais Nouveau for the wine world here in Japan. While in many other countries (especially France, perhaps) the entire spectacle has become passe, in Japan we love our annual rituals and comfortably familiar events, and so dutifully exult in the 解禁 or “lifting of the ban” on Beaujolais Nouveau wine [...]
Uoki sushi in Ark Hills (Akasaka) has long been one of my favorite kaiten sushi restaurants. Consistantly fresh, the portions are large and the quality exceptional. Not too expensive, either, when you consider the building it’s in. (You can’t swing a stick in the place without hitting a French investment banker…) I have a client [...]
Met up with old friends Donald and Jason and a couple of other folks last night at Andy’s fantastic izakaya under the Yamanote Line tracks in Yuraku-cho (有楽町). British ex-footballer Andy has run Shin Hinomoto (新日の基) for as long as I’ve lived here in Tokyo (much longer, actually) and serves up some of the best [...]
Denentoshi Line, 12:11 AM. You can’t tell from the photo, but the train was otherwise crowded. People give catatonic folks like this a wide berth for fear of getting puked on. I was thinking I might try this move next time I don’t feel like standing.