Notes from Tokyo
Notes, walks and investigations from Japan.
Japan has been doing things a certain way for a very long time. Nobody has stopped to explain why. I intend to find out.
LATEST INVESTIGATION
Field Report No.1 · Kimi’s Day Trips
Why Japanese grandmas plan better day trips than any travel app
One ticket. Nine neighbourhoods. A retro candy shop, a 1,200-year-old temple, Tokyo’s last surviving tram, a Showa-era arcade, and Edo-period soba. Kimi planned this with a timetable. ▶︎
THE ROUTE
🚃 Tokyo Station
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🚝 Nippori — dagashi
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⛩️ Nishiarai Daishi
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🚋 Sakura Tram — monaka
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🍤 Machiya — Edo tempura
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🍜 Joyful Minowa — soba
WHY JAPAN?
Why Does Japan Have So Many Convenience Stores?
Japan has approximately 55,000 convenience stores. That’s more than the entire United States. And ours file your taxes.
Why Are Japanese Fruits So Perfect… and So Expensive?
Jiji found a single white strawberry in a Tokyo department store — ¥1,200, resting on its own cushion. He bought it. Then he investigated why it exists.
Every investigator needs a source
Mine is Kimi 👵
Kimi is a Japanese grandmother with an encyclopaedic knowledge of train timetables, a fondness for old shopping streets, and an unerring instinct for the best dagashi shop within walking distance of any station in Tokyo. She does not use Google Maps. She does not need to.
"It's just around the corner." — Kimi, always, regardless of actual distance