On the Road: Tokyo Trip—From Helsinki to Shibuya Fashion Week

Shibuya Fashion Week, October 16-19, 2014

Being available to revisit Tokyo is quite out of my October plan, since the decision is en fait made swiftly by our Director. My major task is to promoting at Tokyo Fashion World 2014; with no doubt, I unquestionably save weekend days to explore around, to discover yet something new, while last Tokyo trip was a decade ago, back to year 2002.

Taking Finnair direct flight from Helsinki to Tokyo on Thursday afternoon. Luckily, my flight neighbor, a Finnish designer is very friendly and helpful, so after nearly 10-hour journey, we can purchase Narita Express and Suica card (similar to HSL or Taipei Metro transport value card) to Tokyo Station within 110 minutes and arrive my hotel room safe and sound.  

First night at Tokyo is getting familiar with Shinbashi (New Bridge) area and knowing the locations of convenient stores and takeaway restaurants. Before the check-in time, I walk toward Tokyo Tower and witness General Tokugawa Ieyasu’s tombstone. After the mini historical tour back to Shinbashi Station neighbourhood, where gathers various kinds of sushi stands, sake bars, raman restaurants and numerous of yakitori (late night grill restaurant) due to Shinbashi area is well known for after-work social entertainment. The drunken office workers, the lingering young high school girls, the heavy-makeups ladies and sweaty bar tenders are making the multitude Tokyo street visions. Gazing and regarding local’s everyday life has always been my pleasure to travel. I especially like the tiny mini Japanese yakiotori located between narrow passages, and take them as my ‘frame-in-frame’ photography shooting project as the fresh start. 

On Saturday I met my Japanese friends from Yokohama. By van we cruise around the most premium and luxurious Ginza area for sightseeing, and later we dine at shabu shabu (Japanese hot pot) and check the flagship Mitsukoshi department store. At afternoon teatime, we try sweet potato snacks together with their little girls. It’s really fun to know that whole Tokyo city was derived from Nihombashi (Japan Bridge), then developed toward eastern-north, and nowadays Tokyo outnumbers of museum, shopping, residential and office architectures and amazing traditional shrines in between.

Shibuya Fashion Week is from October 9^th to 19^th , so at night I decide to take a look of the streets, the people and the events. Shibuya Parco is holding local young artists’ exhibition on the 3^rd floor. Free admission, it looks more like cute version of comic con booths rather than fine art display, nevertheless, the creation and colours are very pastel touch, truly Japanese ‘kawaii’. Parco bookstore at B1 has amazing collection of fashion/photography coffee books and magazines, I choose WWD Japan and Daydreamer by stylist Michiko Yamawaki.

Outside of Parco, at park tori (park passage) plaza, Japanese pop girl band Color Code is performing their debut-album show. Somehow, these three girls still cannot get rid of high pitch singing as those Morning Musumes do; however, I enjoy Color Code’s dancing moves and vivid spirits, even though I haven’t followed J-pop for a very long time. Shopping some Japanese made accessories is definitely my target this time, though I have to save some Japanese yen because I know the crazy kawaii ones are still waiting for me days later.

First weekend in Tokyo, warm and relaxing, and I refill myself enough fuel for the following challenging days!

www.finnair.com

www.shibuya-fw.com

www.shibukaru.com

Cuisine Crush: Yummy Yakitori & Tokyo Tapas!

October 2014 Tokyo, Japan 

Besides clothes bargain hunting, food is another major desire I would like to fulfill on my Tokyo trip. Though I have tried different kinds of sushi already in Taipei, San Francisco, Vancouver and Helsinki, still, sitting and ordering at the genuine Japanese sushi express restaurant is one of my very personal tasks I would like to conquer. Near Shinbashi Station, I spot this ‘Ichiban’ (thumb-up) sushi express run by several elderly masters; therefore, I communicate with them in still-the-beginner-level Japanese, successfully order 7 plates of fresh seafood nigiri/maki sushi for my late dinner! 

he original type of sushi, known today as narezushi(馴れ寿司/熟寿司), was first developed in Southeast Asia and spread to south China before 8 th century. The earliest reference to sushi in Japan appeared in 718 from <Yōrō Code> (養老律令,Yōrō ritsuryō).The Japanese name ‘sushi’ was written with kanji (Chinese characters)雑鮨五斗(五斗,wu-do, is approximately about 64 liters); by the 9th and 10th century,鮨and鮓were read as ‘sushi’ as similar to narezushi nowadays. 

The first use of鮨appeared in the oldest Chinese dictionary around the BCD 3rd century.鮨is explained as literally ‘Those made with (salt and minced)fish’, while those made with meat called醢. In 2nd century AD, Han dynasty of China, another character 鮓was written for sushi: ‘鮓滓也,以塩米醸之加葅,熟而食之也’,translated as ‘鮓滓is a cusine which fish is pickled by rice and salt, eaten when it is ready’. This meal is believed to be similar to Japanese Narezushi.

In British etymology, sushi first collected In 1873 Japanese-English dictionary, by James Cuties Hepburn, also in a journal article on Japanese cookery in 1879 Notes and Queries. The Oxford English Dictionary notes the earliest mention of sushi in Alice Bacon’s Japanese Interiors, that “Domestics served us with tea and sushi or rice sandwiches”(Bacon 1893, p.180).

My favourite sushi style is nigiri sushi (握り寿司), it was introduced in the 19 th century Tokyo. At a rather anonymous restaurant, we order a mixed sushi vessel to share, and I also take tofu salad as fresh appetizer. On visual enjoyment, the sushi are placing alluringly on the platform, white rice, orange shrimp, black nori, while wasabi sauce is decorated as green edelweiss. For tasting pleasure, the smoked salmon with sour mayonnaise sushi melts like the fine butter on the tongue tip almost immediately, yet the sweet stays in mouth for more few seconds. About health benefits, since seafood is the natural source to gain omega-3, and ginger slices with wasabi are not only full of vitamin C, but also a good way to cleanse the germs of stomach,もちろんです, sushi is definitely the smart choice for lovely summer after-party. 

The last 2 days of exhibition, after working hours, my Japanese friends from Tokyo and Yokohama guide me to those local-recommended yakitori, where some dishes of the day can only be ordered directly from the chef. Especially an anonymous yakitori locates under Shinbashi Station, old, micro and noisy, but it provides the most yummy pork stew and grilled chicken butts I have ever tried. Japanese hot sake and Kirin Ichiban beer are also my favourite. Arigato, my dear Japanese friends, your warmest greetings and great sense of humour complete my cultural mission during this 2014 Tokyo trip! 

Special Thanks: Family Okazaki & Producer Kitamura 

http://55vf.jp

Works Cited: 

Bacon, Alice Mabel. A Japanese Interior. Boston:Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1893.

Hepburn, James Curtis. Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionary. London: Randolph, 1873. p.262.

http://oxforddictionaries.com/