Bit & Pieces & Useful Information About Tokyo & Beyond

More about Tokyo & close in to Tokyo

You can read more about Tokyo & the areas / things / doings around Tokyo at my other blog:  http://tokyoandbeyond.typepad.com/tokyo_heart/

Wadabori Park

There is a great park in Suginami Ward - in fact a few parks - along the length of the Zenpukuji River.  The river is about 10 kilometers long from it's start in Zenpukuji Park where the river flows from a couple of ponds that are full of bulrushes, ducks, and other wildlife. 

Start anywhere along the river and walk or bike your way up & down the river, under the magnificent old Sakura (cherry blossom) trees.  You'll have lots of company - walkers, joggers, bikers, old, young, people BBQing at various spots, games being played, even a children's bicycle safety training park where the kids can learn all about riding their bikes safely around the streets and sidewalks of Japan.

Those old Sakura trees hang out over the river in places & in the springtime the path is pink from all the blossoms.  The biggest park along the river is Wadabori Park.  This area is full of trees and is one of the most pleasant areas along the river. There are places along the river where the path narrows a bit, but never so narrow that you can't walk or ride your bike.  At one point you'll find the path blocked and the river covered with a fine network of vines & leaves - just go left or right on the streets that parallel the river & a couple of blocks later you can cut back to the river path. 

Not too far from Eifuku Station you can find the Suginami Historical Museum.  It's a nice place to spend an hour or so & for only 100 yen (about $1) you can enjoy the displays as well as walking through a reconstructed farmhouse from about 250 years ago.  In this museum you'll learn a bit of the history of Suginami starting from roughly 40,000 years ago.  There are 4 rivers in the vicinity & those were a major source of sustenance & travel for the people living near them.  The day we were there they also had a display of the old public baths that were around in Suginami - many of which have disappeared now. 

There are several places to park around Wadabori Park & you can pack up the family, the dog, and the BBQ gear for a great place to spend a weekend afternoon.  However, don't expect to see a gentle stream flowing along flowery banks. Like many rivers in Japan the Zenpukuji has been concreted in so that it now seems to be more like a canal rather than a river running through the city.  Still, there is plenty of nature to enjoy and even some super-big koi (carp-goldfish) in the river - but no fishing allowed.

Great Unagi & a very interesting restaurant

When's the last time you had some really good unagi?  Okay, when's the last time (maybe the only time?) you even had Unagi?

Unagi - fresh water eel - is eaten in

Japan

all year round, but especially during the hot summer months since it is purported to boost one's stamina & energy during the energy sucking dog days of a hot & muggy

Tokyo

summer.   Unagi is rich in protein, calcium, vitamin A and E so not only does it taste good, it's good for you.

There are many unagi-ya (unagi restaurants) around Tokyo, but for a truly different treat, and some of the best unagi in town, and a chance to get away from the gaijin ghettoes of Roppongi & Hiroo, hop on a local train (not the express) on the Keio Inokashira Line that runs out of Mark City in Shibuya Station.  18 minutes later & you'll get off the train in Hamadayama for a visit to Unagi Sakai located at 3-32-3 Hamadayama, a short block or so walk from Hamadayama Station.  Telephone is 03-3303-3189 (Japanese only for the most part).

Sakai-san has been running this unagi restaurant for 38 years on the same spot.  One of the articles he keeps on hand from a Japanese news article, says that he only cooks the rice when he sees your face - so that means you get the freshest possible dishes which Sakai-san serves up with a happy portion of banter & stories to keep you occupied while you enjoy your cold beer & wait for that delicious grilled eel on rice in a lacquered bento box to make its way to your table.

All the seating is on tatami mats and most all of the diners face the chef's counter so you can watch Sakai-san as he prepares your food & he can watch you & joke with you.  The counter is also quite interesting & you'll probably notice it first when the lights in the little windows light up showing you the inside of an old Japanese school house.  The entire counter in fact is a hand made (by Sakai-san) replica of his school from his boyhood days in

Niigata

.  Sakai-san will happily break out a batch of photo albums for your viewing pleasure showing you what he looked like back in his grammar school days & you can verify for yourself that the model counter schoolhouse is indeed his old school in miniature. 

There is even a shrine in the rear of the shop so you can drop a coin & offer a prayer if you are so inclined.

To get there go out of the ticket gate at Hamadayama, up the steps on your right to the street, and turn right.  At the first intersection turn left & at the next intersection turn right and you'll find the restaurant on your right hand side.  You'll know its Unagi Sakai by the wooden hand carved train locomotive that sits out in front of his shop - more of Sakai-san's handiwork.

Of course, you'll know the man behind the counter is Sakai-san by his jovial outlook on life, his skill in preparing delicious unagi, and if that isn't enough - just have a look at his eyeglasses - just what is that frame shaped like......?

Open for lunch & dinner, but they close early - 8:00 P.M. - so don't be late.  They are closed on Tuesday.  Why Tuesday?  That's another story and one that Sakai-san will be happy to share with you.

Married to a Japanese

Want to read - or post - about being a foreigner married to a Japanese?  See this:

http://marriedtojapan.blogspot.com/

Earthquake Survival Manual

Earthquake Survival Manual

Okay - this isn't about being married to a Japanese spouse, but if you live in Japan it is information you should have. Go to this website: http://www.seikatubunka.metro.tokyo.jp/index3files/survivalmanual.pdf and download your copy today of the Earthquake Survival Manual - it's in PDF format & it's in both English & Japanese.

Great seafood restaurant in Tokyo

If you like really fresh seafood (and no, I don't mean sushi) give Hemingway a try. They have a website (Japanese only) at http://www.hemingway.co.jp/index.html but for a bit about them read on.  The family has been in the seafood business for many years in Sendai where they started the first Hemingway.  The Tokyo restaurant opened a few months ago & they ship fresh fish down from Sendai every day. 

It's located on Komazawa Dori just a block or so away from Roppongi Dori (that's the street that runs from Roppongi to Shibuya - Monsoon Cafe is on the corner). 

The owner/manager, Ms. Masumi Kimura, is also a sommelier so she can recommend some great wines to go with your dinner. Our last time there she recommended an excellent, buttery, Italian Chardonnay,  Le Busche.  Kimura-san also speaks a bit of English & can help you with your dinner selection if you want. 

The address is 1F 131Building, 7-4-17, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo & the phone (reservations recommended) is (03) 5467-0016.  They are closed on Mondays.  Parking is street meters only (but if you plan to enjoy some wine, don't drive - remember how tough the traffic laws are on drinking & driving here in Japan!). 

Renewing your driver's license

You've gotten your driver's license renewal notice in the mail (it's in Japanese - make sure you don't just toss those Japanese language postcards in the rubbish bin!) so you now know it is time to go renew your license.

If you don't read Japanese have a friend, secretary, lover, etc. help you figure out what it says & which license renewal center you can go to. 

If you live in one of the 23 Tokyo wards, and if this is your first renewal, you'll most likely wind up going down to the driver's license center in Samezu.  If you don't know where that is have someone tell you how to get there either by train, bus, taxi, or car.  If you drive yourself the parking is free - good thing it is, 'cause you're gonna be there a while.

Here's the basic step-through for those who haven't been there before.

Step 1:  Make sure you take that postcard you got in the mail, along with your current driver's license, your gaijin card, and ¥3,800 (at least - more if you want to buy a drink, food, train ticket, etc.).  It's also a good idea to have some reading material with you since you may face a bit of a wait at times.

Step 2:  Show your postcard to the person at the desk that is just on the right side of the entrance.  They'll make a copy of your current license & print it out on a form that you carry around with you.

Step 3:  Eye exam time - they'll direct you to the machine.  It's a simple test - look at the little circle & tell the tester if the opening is up, left, right, down.  If you wear contact lenses you're supposed to tell them that.

Step 4:  Get your eye exam hanko on your form from the guy just past the eye test machine then proceed to the next window where they'll check your form, tell you to have a seat, and then call you back to the window to hand you back your form - not sure what they check here, but it's one of the necessary steps.

Step 5:  Go pay your 3,800 yen fee.  They'll tear off part of your form - properly "hanko'ed" of course - and hand it back to you.  Do NOT lose this - you'll need it to get your license at the end.

Step 6:  Photo time - just what it says.  Just go in, hand over your form, sit down & get your picture taken - smile!

Step 7:  Now the fun begins.  For you first timers - that is, those who have the green bar license (licenses have green, blue or gold strips on them depending on how long you've had the license & whether or not you have any violations), you'll get to sit through a 2 hour class.  The first 1 hour & 15 minutes or so is a lecture by one of the Samezu staff - in Japanese.  Then a 10 minute break & finally about a 40 minute video of those who have violated the laws & their story from their prison cell.  You will go upstairs (2nd floor) for this class & you have to wait until the next class starts so your wait may be anything from a couple of minutes to - like mine was - 50 minutes before the next class.  Remember that reading material I told you to bring - aren't you glad you did!  Something to do while you wait & no, you can't get a cup of coffee in the summer time unless you like presweetened iced coffee (go back downstairs to the cafeteria, buy a prepaid ticket from the food / drink ticket vending machine, and give it to the lady behind the counter for your coffee). 

Step 8:  Okay - you've made it through the class, duly informed of the rules & regulations as well as the evils of drinking & driving in Japan (hey, if you do that you don't deserve to have a license anyhow!), so now you get to go up to the 3rd floor & turn in that remaining part of your form for your license.  It's up to you to check your license - make sure it's yours (do you really look like that picture?!) and make sure the info on the license is correct.  Of course, it is written in Japanese, but of course, so is everything else there at the Samezu center.

That's is - anything from 2 1/2 to 4 hours or so later & you're on your way home with your new license in your pocket & 3 books of Japan's driving rules & regulations (in Japanese) in hand.  Have fun - safe driving - and don't you dare drink & drive (you do know the penalties for that here - right? - talk about severe!).

Day trip to Sawara

Sawara is an historic city located on the Ono River in Chiba Prefecture.  From the center of Tokyo it's about 99 kilometers and on a clear traffic day, which is what we lucked out with on the Sunday we drove out there in May, you can make it to Sawara in about an hour + 15 minutes.  You can also get there by train on the JR Line from Tokyo Station (limited express, Tokyo-Sawara, 1 hour 30 mins.) or on the Keisei Line from Ueno.  If you're transiting through Narita airport and have a few hours to kill you can get out there in about 25 minutes.

Check out the website in English at: http://www.city.sawara.chiba.jp/english/index.html for more detailed instructions on getting there & for some interesting photos and historical data about the city.

We drove out & parked at a parking lot that is just a few meters from the canal and across the street from Fukushin (see the map of Sawara on the site above & click on the numbers).  The attendant gave us a map (Japanese only) & told us about a coffee shop to try (near the Mitsubishi Kan) and about the water that cascades from under the bridge over the canal every 30 minutes (nothing spectacular, but picturesque).  You can also park at the Ino Tadataka Memorial Museum (more about him on the site above also). 

We didn't take the boat ride up the canal.  After having just been to Venice, Italy a week before we thought that this would be a bit disappointing - motorized skiffs "manned" by ladies in traditional farm wives' outfits (except for those jogging shoes!) didn't do much for us.  The actual historic area is small enough that you can walk around it in a couple of hours, but if you take in the museum you'll need to add that time in also.  You can pop in & out of any shops that are open and in the shop on the corner, which sells a large variety of craft items, you can go up into the 2nd floor shop which is converted from the original warehouse.  They have a very lovely little garden between the entrace to the back of the shop & the entrance to the upstairs warehouse shop. 

If you're there during the lunch hour you may want to try soba at one of the old shops.  If you stay into the evening you may want to give the French restaurant along the canal a try (we didn't stay long enough to try it).

What is Tokyo and Beyond?

Tokyo is a great city - lots to do and see, plenty of great places to eat, many interesting people to meet, and much more.  Of course, Japan isn't just Tokyo and the world isn't just Japan.  This blog is meant to share our experiences and the wonderful city of Tokyo with you, but it is almost meant to share the rest of Japan and even more of the world. 

Having lived in Japan for over nearly 16 years over 3 different times we have traveled around the majority of Japan.  We've also traveled to many other countries and we continue to do both - Japan and the world - on a regular basis.

We'll share some of those travels with you and if you want to know more about any particular place in Japan just ask. 

We'll also keep you posted on what may be of interest to tourists and residents alike - at least for Tokyo - and other areas when we can. 

I'm sure you've heard that Tokyo is a huge city with over 14 million people living and / or working here.  In many ways it is a big city and the crowds at any hour and in any place can be tremendous.  But, did you know that it really is possible to walk from one side to the other - at least Tokyo proper - in around 4 or 4 1/2 hours?  Of course, you can do the same trip by subway or train in about 40 minutes, but if you like walking and want to see parts of the city close up then fire up those old walking shoes, get a decent map, stick a few yen in your pocket, and head off! 

Tokyo is also divided into a series of "little towns" within the big city.  Each area, or each of these little towns, has it's own unique characteristic and we'll cover some of these in future postings.  For example, many people know that Akihabara is the area for buying the latest & greatest in electronics, PCs, stereos, cameras, etc.  But how many people know where to go to get those wax versions of a plate of spaghetti with the fork suspended in a few spaghetti strands sticking up from the plate?  Head on off to Kappabashi and you'll find that spaghetti and more - sushi, beer with a nice head of foam, pork cutlets, and more - all made of wax & ready to be displayed in your restaurant's window box, or on your table, or even hang 'em on the wall for a very unique room decoration. 

So, come on back from time to time & see what's new and let us know what you want to know.