Category: Tokyo

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Japanese Toilets, Public Restrooms and Narita Airport’s New Art Gallery Museum Public Washroom Experience.

It is well known that Japan has the best toilets in the world. With automatic sprays, music, self washing mechanisms and apps to control detailed toilet functions, Japan leads the world in hygiene. New features have appeared in Japanese toilets in recent years to help with fathers carrying children. Now most men’s cubicles are fitted with a child seat, so daddy can do his business and not worry about his child running around. A number of toilets have different symbols to indicate what you’d like so places may feature a western toilet, a hole in the floor toilet or a full care…

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Street Markets, Food Markets near Tsukiji Fish Markets, Tokyo, Japan. Video.

This is just a short walk from the Tsukiji Fish Markets and so, if you find the seafood markets closed when you get there, there are still plenty of other options available to you. What impressed me about the food markets was that, unlike other bazaars and street food markets around the world, everything was spotlessly clean, all pieces of food were individually wrapped or in their own resealable pouches or under clean glass covering with not a speck of cooked or raw food dropped on any surfaces. You could even buy individual oysters, eat one, then be offered a…

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Streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Video.

This short video simply shows you some buildings in Shibuya. And here is a picture of some blurred-out people waiting at Hachiko. The Hachiko waiting area stretches out across the square. Here is a picture of some wine for sale in a store in Shibuya. Remember you can get these kinds of drinks just about anywhere in Japan. Some are even available in on-street vending machines and on various floors inside hotels. There isn’t much of a restriction. However, you might be surprised at some of the prices if you’re from Australia. We usually pay about 3 times more than the…

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A quick look at a few streets of Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan and a business hotel room in Hotel The B Akasaka-Mitsuke. Video.

Streets of Akasaka in Tokyo, Japan and a quick look inside one of the Hotel The B rooms. We stayed at Hotel The B Akasaka-Mitsuke. This is part of a large hotel chain of business hotels with rooms available at a good price, and free coffee near reception. Very polite guys at reception. Ice vending machines on various levels. A bit smokey though! However, when we requested a non-smoking room they loaned us an air cleaning machine! Very local and within a short walk of the Ninja restaurant.

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Chateau Mercian Yamanashi Bailey A Muscat Unfiltered Red Wine Commentary Review Tasting Video

At the ninja restaurant cafe in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan I had the opportunity to sample the Chateau Mercian Yamanashi Bailey A Muscat Unfiltered Red Wine and give a wine tasting commentary review of it to camera. The vintage of the wine was 2006. On the video I didn’t know the grape variety but found out later it was Muscat (which, as there are many varieties of Muscat, means I still don’t really know!) In Australia the more popular red varietals are big, bold and juicy with peppery, coffee or chocolate notes, whereas the reds regularly served and prized in Japan are sweet,…

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Irish Bar Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Wine and Haggis!

After meeting at Hachiko we headed to a surprise place for dinner that one of the friends of our friend had recommended. We had been looking forward to perhaps a sushi place or a rare and secret izakaya, and certainly somewhere that no foreigner would ever know about or could ever find in Shibuya. However, we were surprised to find that we were taken to Abbot’s Choice – an Irish Bar, right in the centre of Shibuya and easily seen by everyone. So, definitely not what we were expecting, but apparently THE most popular place for Shibuya residents. Who’d have thought? Ironically, wherever…

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Le Sun Palm Bar in the Hikarie building, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

It was a pleasant surprise to stumble across this craft drinks place in Shibuya. I had no idea that this kind of establishment had already become popular in Japan. We tried a couple of drinks there but the main surprise was the quality of the ‘bar snack food.’ This was delightful, fresh and filling. Tuna and avocado combination with wasabi flavour. The perfect accompaniment to pre-dinner drinks. Around Le Sun Palm Bar were other places equally impressive with quite a wide variety of drinks on the menu. If you’ve been living in Japan for awhile and need a European or…

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Shibuya Crossing aka Shibuya Scramble in Tokyo, Japan. Shibuya Ekimae Kosaten is where a million people cross daily. Video.

The Shibuya Crossing, otherwise known as Shibuya Scramble, (also known as Shibuya Ekimae Kosaten) is one of the most busiest pedestrian crossings in the world with an estimated million people crossing it daily. (About, on average, 2500 people cross every time the light changes) While it is not that busy during a weekday during the daytime, it may seem like you’re risking your life on weekends and during peak times. Below is a video showing the area, the crossing and a view of the crossing zoomed in from the Hikarie building. If you wish to join in, go to Shibuya…

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Hikarie Building Shibuya Tokyo Japan Shops and Viewing platform

Featuring a creative space, cafes and restaurants as well as several levels of department stores, the Hikarie building is a new event in Shibuya. The viewing area on level 11 referred to as the Tokyo Theatre Orb and Sky Lobby is definitely worth a visit and looking out the windows is completely free! For a variety of wine and food you can’t go past the various European style restaurants on level 7. I was surprised at the international selection of wines and other drinks on offer. Definitely worth checking out.  

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Hachiko and a Bakery Cafe, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

I met up with one of my Japanese friends who I haven’t seen in 9 years at the Hachiko statue in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Hachiko is a well-known meeting place in Japan and features a statue of a loyal akita inu dog that had returned to Shibuya train station every day for 9 years to wait for his master to get off his usual train, not knowing he had died of a cerebral hemorrhage at work and never got to go home. (I had no idea it would take me 9 years to get back to Japan, and I only found…

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Review of a drinks Bistro in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

We checked out one of the hidden bars in Tokyo. (There are thousands of these places!) I had a glass of Japanese red wine. The grape variety wasn’t known but was light and fruity with some strawberry characteristics. We also had some assorted snacks. The food came quickly and was tasty.   This was more of a western bar rather than a Japanese one, and much of Shinjuku and Shibuya has been taken over by these tiny fushion bars. There is not much arm or leg room, the seats are tiny, though the chair design has been chosen so that you can store…

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Zauo Fishing Restaurant Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Catch your fish and they create sashimi from it, or cook it for you. ざうお

Last night was huge! We met up with some old friends at a place called Zauo ざうお where you can fish for the fish you want to eat. The restaurant is a short walk from one of the Shinjuku station exits and was hidden away in a shopping building. It had a little river of fish that ran around the inside of the restaurant with izakaya style tables situated around it. There were three main fish to choose from, though the cheaper fish were difficult to catch. The most expensive fish, the snapper, was easily caught, so of course I…

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Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria Deck Video Japan Tourist Attraction

If you’re planning to visit Tokyo Skytree I recommend you put aside a day, and go early in the morning. Visit the Tembo Deck on level 350, and spend a few hours, go to the restaurant, visit the store, get your photo taken on the glass floor, then buy the extra ticket up to the Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria Deck. Approximately US$30pp to go up to floor 350 and approximately an additional US $20pp to go up to level 450. When I went there the first time I didn’t know you could pay an extra $US10 and get a fast ticket with…

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Tokyo Skytree Tourist Attraction. Great View of Tokyo, Japan. 2 hour queues!

Our latest tourist attraction adventure was at Skytree, a massive tower built to view Tokyo, and taller than Tokyo Tower. After an hour wait to buy tickets to the main level and a few minutes to buy tickets for the top level, we experienced a sugoi moment with many others at the vista that spread out before us. I love modern cities, with Tokyo being one of my favourites, so seeing these amazing views was worth every yen. The second section is a separate price (much like the second and third sections of the Eiffel Tower) and requires a second ticket…

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Tsukiji Fish Markets, Tokyo, Japan. Nearby Restaurant Serving Sushi, Sashimi, Sea Urchin, Kamenote and more.

Awesome breakfast this morning. The Tsukiji Tokyo Fish Markets were closed (they sometimes close randomly on a Wednesday, even if the website guarantees they’re open!) so we headed to a great sushi place nearby where we tried some amazing seafood, including sushi such as sea urchin, tuna, snapper, squid, octopus and others, as well as hot and juicy rock worms which have an outer shell that looks a bit like turtle hands (kamenote – you can find them on the rocks at various beaches around the world). We also enjoyed a bowl of  chirashi ( a bowl of various sashimi)…

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Ninja Cafe Restaurant Izakaya Akasaka Tokyo Ninja Girls and Crazy Food!

Went to an amazing place called Ninja Restaurant. Even the food menu was unique and was a scroll available in Japanese and English. Taken by a ninja girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, through various hidden doors, up and down secret stairs and across a broken path that we could cross thanks to a suddenly lowering drawbridge after a few sharp claps, to a secret, private restaurant room. We were served by 7 different ninjas including a magician ninja who did card and coins on a ribbon tricks. They were surprising too. The door would suddenly be slid aside and…

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Japanese Airlines JAL Flight Sydney to Tokyo, and information about Narita Airport in Japan

The Japan Airline JAL flight was great. There was some turbulence due to the aftereffects of a nearby typhoon but otherwise uneventful. As I’m allergic to dairy and gluten I requested a non-allergy meal and I wasn’t disappointed. I was able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner without the slightest reaction to anything they gave. Also, people with allergies, religious needs, disabilities or children get served first. This is a great situation as it means that those people get first access to the toilets afterwards and helps reduce the queues. Most people are allergic to dairy and gluten to varying…