Tokyo 東京 and Sushi Bar Yasuda スシバーヤスダ
Wednesday started with a visit to the Mitsukoshi Department store in Nihombashi. Founded in 1673, Mitsukoshi is Japan's flagship department store and the Nihombashi location is its first. As with most great merchants, Mitsukoshi's genesis is that of a street peddler in the city's primary market. The current building opened in 1904. Each morning, the staff lines up at the various entrances to greet and bow to the incoming customers.
After a quick tour of the store, we visited a decidedly different and uniquely Japanese phenomenon: a cat cafe. Various spin-offs are located throughout Tokyo (dog cafes, owl cafes, rat cafes, hedgehog cafes, and surely more). Pets are rare and a luxury for Tokyo dwellers so the opportunity to enjoy a tea, coffee or soda while relaxing with a rent-a-pet is alluring. Before entering, we were asked to wash ours, remove our shoes and deposit our bags. They take the health of their cats very seriously!
A most ancient destination followed with a visit to the Imperial Palace grounds. The history of the palace and significance requires too much detail for this blog but, essentially, the Emperor relocated from Kyoto (the previous capital of Japan) in 1868 to Edo/Tokyo to capitulate to Western powers. The site was the home of the Shogun capital and military compound. The palace is off-limits to the public with the exception two times per year. However, the public grounds are beautiful and offer an appreciation of the moats and ancient security (double gates, elevated points of defense, etc.). The location is the heart of Tokyo and modern office buildings, retail malls and hotels surround the park like setting.
We had lunch in Central Market, another Midtown spot (although it appears that the city contains several branded Midtowns). This location hosted well-curated retails with lots of shops in shops and a fun food hall.
Omotesando Street and Takeshita Street were our next stops. Omotesando is Tokyo's Champs de Elysee, Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive hosting an impressive amount of luxury brands and beautifully finished storefronts and interiors. Side streets offer a more boutique and hipster shopping experience. We were struck by the depth of shopping in this district - it seems as though every international brand has a location on or near Omotesando Street.
Takeshita Street was completely different! An epicenter of Tokyo's youth culture, this jammed street was full of colorful shops and cafes - and I mean colorful in the most literal manner.
Dinner was a highly anticipated treat. I had made reservations at Sushi Bar Yasuda months ago and the experience lived up to the expectations. Chef Naomichi Yasuda was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unkown and served as mentor to Bourdian. After learning his craft in Japan, Yasuda operated Sushi Yasuda in New York for 27 years before returning to his roots in 2011. His restaurant contains 10 seats along the counter.
He explained that his passion is the preparation and serving of sushi. As a young boy, he saved his money to experience sushi. He is a minimalist, a sushi master and takes a yeoman's approach to the business (he shops for his own fish, prepares the restaurant each afternoon, handles the entire meal, and cleans-up at the end of the night). And, he is very funny and engaging.
We finished the night at the famous (and infamous) Golden Gai district in Shinjuku. The roughly four block area is housed with "micro" bars that seat 10-12 at each counter. During our nightcap, we shared drinks with travelers from Australia, Poland, England, Japan, and the United States.
A great way to finish an exceptional day.