Well, this is it! Time to say ittekimasu.
After a decidedly bad week I can think of nothing better than to get the heck out of Dodge and go to, oh, I don't know, Japan! I am so ready.
Hadn't really been thinking much about what I'd do when I got there, to be honest. But now that I've had a quiet day all to myself to make this mental gear shift and contemplate how much fun I'm about to have, I've got a clearer picture. Basically, nothing's set in stone. I'm choosing from an à la carte menu. Here are some of the selections:
- Tsukiji Fish Market. I did the whole get up at the crack of dawn and rush down there to eat the freshest sushi on God's green earth thing with Jo two years ago, now I'm up for a reprise of that fantastic game plan with Lisa
- Dropping mad money at Kyukyodo, a calligraphy and stationery store in Ginza. I missed going there last time - this is a definite stop on my 2007 itinerary. I'm going to buy some of the four treasures there. Their web site mentions something about a Zen calligraphy exhibition being on while I'm in Tokyo. Looks like my timing is good!
- Akihabara, spiritual center of the geek planet and scene of the Densha Otoko love story. Last time I went with a fellow otaku and we hit up all the electronics stores and video game arcades we could shake a stick at, also stumbled upon a real tiny hole-in-the-wall old-school sushi place where we had a delicious lunch. I'm back for more of the same
- Jimbocho, a Tokyo district full of bookstores. Never been there, curious about checking it out. I'm kind of wondering if I might not find some good calligraphy supply shops here too
- Hot springs (aka onsen), baby! I'm going to make a return visit to Ooedo Onsen Monogatari, this time with Lisa. Keiko and I have plans to stay the night at a fancy Japanese ryokan in Hakone next weekend. The mission is to soak in hot springs, break for dinner, and soak in hot springs again. This works for me. Despite having lived in Japan for 3 years I never made it to Hakone. That mistake will be corrected on this visit
- Perhaps a show at the Kabuki-za! I loved the Heisei Nakamura-za production of Heianbo I saw at Lincoln Center this summer. It knocked my socks off
- A day trip to Mashiko, a pottery village in Tochigi Prefecture
- A day trip to Kamakura, where the first Japanese shogunate was founded in the 12th century
Lisa and I are also talking about clubbing in Roppongi and visiting some gardens we've never seen before. And of course there will be food, lots of yummy yummy Japanese food.
I plan on doing something very gluttonous I did a couple of times during my last visit on one of the nights I have no adult supervision -- hitting up one of the gourmet food markets in the basement of a department store in Shinjuku, buying embarrassing quantities of top-shelf sushi and sashimi, and dragging them back to my hotel room for a private interlude. What happens in Tokyo stays in Tokyo (unless you blog about it). I may have food porn to share. In fact, I probably will.
And that's it! More from the (other) metropolis when I get there, assuming I set aside some time to blog. If not, I'll post updates when I get back.
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