(Tokyo, Japan).
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Large spider statue in front of Mori Art Center.
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After yesterday's day o' shopping, we decided to have a more "cultural" day. We were fortunate enough to score lunch reservations at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi (a famous 2 - Michelin starred sushi restaurant - the chef's father was showcased in the documentary film - Jiro Dreams of Sushi). The restaurant was located in Roppongi Hills which happened to have lots of museums and galleries so our plan seemed perfect!
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| Gundam Exhibit Ad in the subway. |
We took the subway and, again, it was super easy. We just had to read the signs carefully and watch for the color coding. When we got to the Roppongi station and walked towards the Mori Art Center, we saw several bulletin boards and posters for a special "Art of Gundam Exhibit". My husband and I are both fans of Japanese anime and this show was one of the pioneers of anime, so we were both excited (but I have to admit my husband was way more excited...)
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| Some artwork from the Gundam exhibit. |
The exhibit was about $25 each, but in hindsight, it was really worthwhile. Upon entering, there is a little video (in Japanese) which details a little bit of history about the show. Then the entire group is shepherded into another simulation room which transports you into a little action sequence making you feel as if you were on the space ship ... it was very similar to the old Star Wars ride in Disneyland. Again, this is all in Japanese but it was still cool. The rest of the exhibit was very well organized and curated. It was amazing how the hand sketches evolved into the animation and the exhibit really helped you see the evolution. At the end we entered into a special gift shop and bought a bunch of souvenirs, including more gonchapon figurines.
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| A large, apocalyptic installation which, oddly enough, served as a great photo-op. |
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| The facade of the restaurant - Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi. |
After the exhibit we had to rush to find Jiro. We knew it was in the complex but the complex was huge! Luckily we found it on the 2nd floor of what looked like an apartment building. Even though there was a slight mixup in our reservations they seated us anyways. Then we enjoyed yet another amazing and delicious sushi meal. Everything was fresh and flavorful. The eel in particular was stupendous. The chef was also very nice and definitely warmed up after the meal was complete. He took the time to take pictures with all the diners. It was truly a memorable experience and definitely worth checking out. But as I noted in my other blog - it was not able to topple Sushisho Masa from the number 1 sushi spot in my mind. (See review here.) Furthermore, Sushisho Masa is actually cheaper than Jiro and it's very difficult to get reservations to Jiro. I'll do a separate, more thorough review of Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi next week.
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| The talented chef! |
After lunch we returned to the Mori Art Center and checked out a few more exhibits. My favorite was a Vietnamese artist who had an incredibly moving and haunting show about the atrocities of the Vietnam War. One installation included pencil sketches of young Vietnamese men and women who fought in the war along with a documentary video... oftentimes these sketches which were gifted to the sitters served as the only evidence identifying the corpses. And even more heartwrenching, oftentimes, these sketches were the only "pictures" the families had of their deceased loved ones. I sat watching the video and bawling my eyes out next to a Japanese lady who was similarly moved, and sobbing with me. It's rare to see something so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
There is a city view area at the Mori Art Center and we went up to look. But to be honest, the view from our hotel room was pretty spectacular so we weren't that excited about this. Before we headed out, we tried our SUICA cards at some vending machines and I got a tasty grape and aloe drink.
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| Strangely tasty grape drink. |
We decided to enjoy some levity after our cultural experience and took the subway to Nakano Broadway, which I heard was a haven for anime/manga/sci-fi/fantasy collectors. I really wished we had more time (and energy) to explore this multi-level shopping center. There was just so much to see that it really became a bit overwhelming. My husband was too stunned to really buy much (and believe me, he regretted it later). There were also lots of gonchapon shops - and we were even able to find the infamous used lingerie gonchapon machine (ewww). For those who don't know there was always a rumor that there was a market for men who wanted to buy used underwear ... god knows why...
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| More gonchapon machines! |
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| Weird little shop... I was too scared to go in... |
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| Totoro! |
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| The infamous used lingerie gonchapan... which was empty. Is that good or bad? |
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| So much Star Wars stuff everywhere! I should have bought this shirt.... |
I wanted to give a little shout out to Bar Zingaro - a cafe owned by the artist Murakami. It was a lovely, contemporary cafe on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the center, and served coffees, teas and desserts. We had an amazing shaved ice dessert with red beans, black honey sugar and mochi. Sooooo good!!!
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| Bar Zingaro. |
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| This was so good - I still think about this now and again. |
Oh another highlight was a little gallery show we found at Nakano Broadway for the artist - Katsuya Tesada. So talented! This artist uses a simple black marker to create the most elaborate drawings! (see below)
As we were leaving Nakano Broadway, we passed through an arcade of restaurants and shops and of course I had to shop more. By the time we reached our hotel (via subway), after a stop at the onigiri shop for more rice balls, I was exhausted!! But that didn't stop me from opening up our Gundam gonchapan and putting together our little Gundam figurines.
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| Onigiri! |
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| Damn the teeny tiny pieces! |
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| Success!! |
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| My little gonchapon collection is growing! |
I'm embarrassed to admit that it took both of us an hour!!! We obviously need practice putting together intricate, little Japanese figurines. The sake probably didn't help speed things up...
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| Ippudo Ramen. |
Tired and lazy, we opted to eat close to the hotel again. Fortunately I knew that Ippudo Ramen was nearby. We were big fans of Ippudo in New York so we were excited to try the Japanese predecessor. Although it is quite different than the New York location (which is very trendy but tasty!), the Ippudo in Ebisu was equally wonderful! It was a super casual place with a very basic ramen menu, but everything was spot on! We both had big bowls of tonkatsu (pork broth) ramen with a side order of gyoza. I wished I had a bottomless stomach so I could have just eaten ramen and gyoza all night - but alas - reality set in and I had to call it quits for the night.
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| I miss you yummy ramen. |
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| These were delicious gyoza! |
We slowly wobbled our way back to the hotel (about a 12 min walk) and fell into bed. zzzzzzzz
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