Day 3 – 11 February 2019, Monday

After experiencing the high of Janet Jackson’s State of the World Tour last night, I took it easy today. I managed to wake up early enough to enjoy the two free bread rolls for breakfast. Unlike yesterday’s mostly sunny weather, it was a day of gloomy skies today, with temperatures hovering around 2 degrees Celsius for the most part. At about 10am, I left my hotel and made my way to Daikanyama.

I first visited Daikanyama in 2013, when my primary school friend MB brought me here for a walk. She was living in the nearby trendy neighbourhood of Naka-Meguro at the time, so she frequented Daikanyama quite often. One of the places that left the deepest impression on me was the super-cool Tsutaya Books store (click here). I decided to come back this morning to revisit it.

This Daikanyama Tsutaya Books store is built based on the concept of “A Library in the Woods”. It is nestled in a quiet spot amid beautiful trees and surroundings. The three building wings are connected together via a 55m-long aisle. The most striking thing about the buildings is its elegant glass and white façade comprising of an endless series of interlocking letter T’s, which I presume stands for Tsutaya.

If you thought its exterior was beautiful, wait till you see the inside. With wood as its main theme, the interior is comfortable and cosy. Books and magazines are stacked neatly on rows and rows of bookshelves. The warm lighting and natural light from the large glass windows create an inviting atmosphere where you can spend hours here just relaxing and devouring your reading material of choice.

However, Tsutaya is more than just a bookstore. Besides books and magazines, the three buildings also house a chic Starbucks café and a huge music and movie department. The music department was the one that made me fall in love during my first visit. Here, you can find a HUGE selection of CDs and vinyl, with a strong catalog of jazz titles supplementing its library of classical, 60s to 80s rock and pop music. Best of all, you can sample for free any of the 120,000 CD albums at the 40 seated listening stations, while enjoying a cup of coffee.

This Daikanyama Tsutaya Books store has been dubbed one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world and rightly so. Do pop by for a visit next time you’re in Tokyo and have nowhere else to go. You can easily lose yourself for hours here.

Next, I went to the Matsunosuke N.Y. restaurant (click here) located near Tsutaya at Daikanyama Hillside Terrace building. MB also brought me here in 2013 and I had the fluffiest pancake ever. I loved it so much that I decided to come back for another round.

Matsunosuke is an apple pie and sweets shop founded by Akiko Hirano in June 1998. The name Matsunosuke comes from Akiko’s grandfather. During a university exchange programme to America, she came under the tutelage of a cooking specialist named Cheryl Jean. After obtaining her Cake Diploma, she returned to Japan and opened a store in Tokyo making cakes and pastries. The business later expanded to Kyoto and she also published several recipe books.

I ordered a latte and a pancake with blueberry and cheese cream topping and maple syrup. The bill amounted to 1,100 JPY (S$13.75). True to form, the pancake was as soft and fluffy as the last time I had it, and it was super delicious. I’m glad the standards have not dropped after all these years.

After filling my tummy, I took a walk to the nearby district of Ebisu. However, there wasn’t anything particularly interesting there so I decided to head to Shibuya once more. Shibuya is always crowded and today is no exception. More so because it is National Foundation Day public holiday today, a day for the Japanese to remind themselves of the nation’s founding.

I made a beeline for the flagship Tower Records building, a music behemoth spanning eight storeys and stocking more than 800,000 items. This is a must-go for me whenever I am in Tokyo.

When I was a secondary school student, I frequented the Tower Records and Tower Books at Pacific Plaza in Singapore every other week, and my life ambition was to work at Tower Records. Sadly, I never got to do it and Tower Records shut down many stores around the world, including the ones in Singapore. Thankfully, Tower Records Japan is independent from the international chain store and it survived the digital streaming malaise that has wiped out physical music stores in just about every country. Japan has a strong culture of purchasing CDs and Tower Records is still going strong.

I really enjoy visiting traditional music stores and walking through the aisles of CDs. I love picking up an album to admire its artwork and see whether it contains any special Japan-only bonus tracks. FYI, many international albums come with an extra one or two bonus tracks that are exclusive to Japan only. These Japan editions are priced higher than the regular editions of the album, but for collectors like me, they are very cool. Some artists also release full albums that are exclusive to Japan only. For example, this Love In Tokyo live album by Coldplay is available only in Japan.

After my Tower Records pilgrimage, I walked around Shibuya, catching up on shops that I missed yesterday. I went to the Don Quijote store, also known as Don Don Donki in Singapore. There is always a long queue at the Singapore store for the freshly cooked sweet potato and they sell out in a matter of minutes, so I’ve never tried it. Since there was no queue here, I bought one (200 JPY/S$2.50) to try. After sinking my teeth into it, I’m not quite sure what the fuss is about because it tasted just alright. It was nice, but not something I will queue up for.

At about 3pm, I had a quick lunch of fried rice and gyoza at a retraurant in Shibuya (800 JPY/S$10) before proceeding to my next destination – Shimokitazawa.

Shimokitazawa is known as the hip and bohemian neighbourhood of Tokyo and it is home to many thrift stores selling secondhand goods. MB had also brought me here in 2013 but we came at night so it was a different atmosphere.

Shimokitazawa is much more compact than Shibuya but equally vibrant. True enough, there is an abundance of shops selling vintage and used clothing. I popped in a few for a quick look but did not buy anything. I had better luck at a shop called Dorama, which like Book-Off, sells secondhand CDs and DVDs.

I also visited Flash Ranch Records, an indie record shop tucked away on the second floor of a building. The entrance is quite discreet and you’ll probably walk past it without noticing it. It sells used vinyl records only and it’s a very underground kind of record shop. The owner speaks excellent English and he was happily puffing away on his cigarette as I entered the shop.

At about 5pm, I took a rest at a coffee house called Kohaze Coffee. I was looking for a quiet spot and I found it in a small side lane so I went in. I didn’t know it at the time, but MB later told me that Kohaze Coffee is opened by her friend. What a coincidence!

Besides vintage clothing, Shimokitazawa is also home to many hip coffee places and Kohaze is one of them. I like it because it is small and cosy, like a family-run café. Kohaze also roasts their own coffee beans so the entire shop smells of coffee. In fact, the moment you enter the shop, you’ll encounter the different varieties of coffee beans laid out in front of the counter. I ordered a latte (300 JPY/S$3.75) and enjoyed it slowly.

At about 6:30pm, I left Shimokitazawa and headed over to Ueno. The district is best known for Ueno Park, a very popular spot for cherry blossom viewing. People are known to go early in the morning to stake out the best spots for hanami parties, where they hold picnics under the cherry blossom trees. Of course, it is way too early for cherry blossom season so I didn’t visit Ueno Park this time round.

I mainly just walked around Ameyoko Market to soak up the atmosphere. Ameyoko is a busy market street with lots of shops selling cheap clothes, sporting apparel and food. The vibe here is more Thai/Chinese-Asian than Japanese. It is a unique atmosphere but I’m not a big fan because it is chaotic and very un-Japanese. So if you’re looking for something different, Ameyoko Market is for you.  

After that, I headed back to Shinjuku where I felt much more at home. And with that, it’s the end of Day 3. One last sleep in Tokyo before I fly home!