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Map for May (Event)

 Chances are, the weather will be splendid this First Saturday. Salvia‘s got a summer selection of Finnish fabrics, Kakimori‘s offering free cards for mum’s day, in-kyo‘s just starting a show of gorgeous wooden trays etc. by Kazuhiro Yamaguchi, and you can browse Italian coffee tools while eating scones at Waplus & Alloy. And over the two…

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High Cat Priestess

 Sunday turns out to be a reflective sort of day as you stumble on this beckoning-cat shrine a bit north of Asakusa, with the twilight coming on and the indigo-dressed and jet-black haired woman with the natural smile outside the small attached kiosk selling lucky charms who says, Please take a look around if you…

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Chairpersons

 Every time you pop in to in-kyo recently there’s someone unexpected to interview. The other day it was a kitchen tools distributor, last week guitarist Hayato Aoki. You ought to tell store-owner Chie Nakagawa you’ll write about her! But today it’s these two fellows who have driven down from Fukushima to show Chie their new…

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Hotel Drug Wonderland

 If you think it’s a kaleidoscope of knicknacks now, Variety Drugs Shoji at Asakusa View Hotel was apparently even more of a cornucopia in its old location up the back of the building some 17 years ago, stocked with gold-painted screens and other furniture, Venetian glass, all sorts of fancy stuff whose fashion faded after…

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Your Name Is Your Brand

 He stands in the sun on the stoop of his shop off Kokusai Dori. You’ve seen him before. He smiles, a little impish. Hello, he says. His name is Teruro Hayashi. Today he wears a kimono. On another day, a sports jacket and jeans. He may not look busy, but he is at work. His…

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Two Days Guitar

 Two gigs in two days, same guitarist, different…food. Riverside loft-space Kawauso tonight becomes a pop-up restaurant. Hayato Aoki plays live background music. His electric guitar echoes and loops. At one point he throws in the theme to Twin Peaks. The diners laugh, a little unsettled. Hehehe. Only kidding. See him in the background there, behind…

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Madame Hot Beef Cure

 Kinka Yo enjoys the fruits of her hard work and doesn’t mind telling you about it. One evening you run into her on the bridge on the Sumida, on her way to her restaurant. She tells you, I’m coming from my second condo. I have another one in Shinjuku you know, near my other restaurant.…

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Love Espresso

 The neighbours around Sol’s Coffee in Kuramae must be all right. They put up with the street party last night – a rare event for a Tokyo residential block – loud laughter, well-wishers coming and going, a DJ, screaming children. Maybe that’s how much they appreciate the little hole-in-the-wall cafe with no interior and just some stools…

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One Day in April (Event)

 Every month there’s a new First Saturday! Why not walk in the spring-shine and check the accessories and design bits at Koncent on its second anniversary, or scarf down a strawberry muffin almost next door at Daily’s Muffin, or sign up for the sakura dyeing workshop across the road at Maito (enquiries highly advised) or even cash…

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Soup Supply

 Rainy Sunday Asakusa, and you’re curious about this newcomer on the corner where Mr Nagasawa’s Uogashi sushi used to stand. The sign says Kombu no Kawahito. A seaweed shop. It looks a little upmarket, with its subdued grey exterior. Inside, the white loamy walls and downlights show off the merchandise. All different grades of kombu,…

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