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Anyone who has been to Japan will inevitably include the country in their ‘must visit before you die’ travel list. Japan -- as a travel experience -- is hard to describe. This was my second trip to Japan, and while I had spent more time in Kyoto and Osaka on a previous holiday, this visit was centred on the capital city of Tokyo. Tokyo has all the ingredients of a big, global city -- towering skyscrapers, tons of people, efficient public transport, and real-estate prices to match. Complementing this industrial facade is a city with a very eastern soul -- where Japanese culture seeps through in the form of intricate ceremonies, unique architecture, the politest people, and an inexplicable obsession with karaoke. The society is extremely patriarchal, and while the younger generation is slowly breaking this stereotype, Japanese culture remains very male-centric.
We were staying at the Imperial Hotel, located in Chiyoda just south of the Imperial Palace grounds. Japanese hospitality is something else altogether, and the five star hotels in Tokyo are an experience worth their hefty price tag. Starving, we stepped out to grab a bite at a sushi restaurant just a few meters from the hotel. This was the first indication that my usually conservative palette would need a holiday on this holiday. I ordered a vegetarian roll as I normally do not eat seafood or red meat -- which is what the menu was almost exclusively composed of. While my brother digged into his sushi platter, I stared in revulsion at my bowl of leafy vegetable rolls -- even the waiter was taken aback when I placed my order. I decided then and there that to enjoy Japan, I’d have to abandon my food restrictions.
Dinner was at Ninja Akasaka -- a gimmicky ninja themed restaurant in Akasaka. We were greeted by ninjas and made to pass a ninja test before being seated in a private dining room. The food was great, though geared toward a western clientele that was lapping up the experience. Ninjas routinely interrupted the meal, performing card tricks and sword fights. From here we went bar hopping in Roppongi -- an area known for its nightlife. Our first stop was a student bar called Geronimo -- a tiny little bar, teeming with people from all over the world. We ended the night at Jumanji -- a dingy club in the same area that was open late and offered an unbeatable price on drinks.
The next day, we visited the Meiji Shrine -- a Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. From here we walked through Harajuku -- a district in Tokyo’s Shibuya that is known as a centre for youth culture and fashion. Think crazy wigs, costumes, kimonos and more. We made our way to Shibuya crossing -- the iconic scramble crossing that somehow makes it to every movie based in Tokyo. We stopped at Morimoto for Yakitori and grabbed a drink in Golden Gai -- an area that is home to Tokyo’s tiniest drinking dens. This is Tokyo at its best -- tiny little bars, often seating less than ten people, with no English menus. Many of these bars are ‘regulars only’ -- which means you’ll be told (in broken English) that there’s no space, even if the seats are unoccupied. Try and you’ll find a bar that is welcoming of new guests, each with its own outlandish decor and signature drink.
(Harajuku -- Tokyo’s fashion and youth centre)
Dinner that night was at Tofuya Ukai -- a michelin star Kaiseki establishment with a stunning view of the Tokyo Tower. Located in a Samurai merchant’s residence, the menu here revolves around tofu. Our Japanese hosts had booked a private tatami room -- a key feature of the Kaiseki dining experience. Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course dinner, but describing it so is almost a misnomer, as the experience is central to the concept. Each dish is prepared by a renowned chef, as Kaiseki meals require a tremendous amount of skill and technique. They are served in a ceremonial style, with hostesses paying intricate attention to every detail. Guests dine in private tatami rooms, often located in traditional Japanese houses, overlooking a zen garden and pond. The entire experience lasts a few hours, and can set you back anywhere between 200 USD to 1000 USD per person.
I can only say that I was glad to have reneged on all my food restrictions, as I enjoyed a culinary experience that is hard to describe at Tofuya Ukai. From kobe beef to the finest sushi -- each dish was beautifully presented and immaculately prepared. In true Japanese style, the sake flowed into the wee hours of the night…
The next day we visited the Imperial Palace. The primary residence of the Emperor of Japan, the palace is built on the site of the old Edo castle -- the remains of which still exist. There’s not much to see, but the scenic park is located at a bit of a height, and thus provides a beautiful view of the Chiyoda skyline. In a city as chaotic and busy as Tokyo, sometimes all you need is a quiet park with a picturesque view.
(The Imperial Palace -- as seen from Chiyoda-ku)
That afternoon, we took a stroll through Ginza -- Tokyo’s upscale shopping area. You don’t need to spend money to admire the storefronts. For tea, we walked into Toraya in Tokyo Station and ordered every variant of matcha-flavoured confectionary on the menu. Japanese sweets are an acquired taste, but matcha tea and authentic sweets are pretty high on the must-try list when in Tokyo.
Dinner that night was at another kaiseki restaurant known as Tsukiji Jisaku. If Tofuya Ukai was impressive, Tsukiji Jisaku was in another league altogether. Located in the famous Tsukiji fish market, the restaurant is housed in a stunning traditional property. Geared toward a Japanese clientele, the restaurant provided an authentic kaiseki experience, with a price tag to match. Although we were stunned by the impressive quality of the food and service, the intricate setting, and the ceremonial traditions that went with the meal, we couldn’t help notice -- as we peeked into some of the private rooms -- that the clientele was almost exclusively male. Hostesses were meant to be servile, dressed in traditional clothing and rarely meeting our eye. These observations aside, the experience itself was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. As we drank our plum wine and sake and tasted the freshest and most uniquely prepared seafood and meat -- we knew we were very fortunate to be on this culinary journey. The experience in itself had a huge impact on me, as I quickly realised that life’s too short to live by unreasonable restrictions. It’s essential to experience every moment for what it can offer… and this lesson has gone far beyond food ever since!
After dinner we stopped by a trendy bar known as Trump Room in Shibuya. A sea of chandeliers and glitter balls welcomed us, as Tokyo’s cool kids stood by the bar, schmoozing and smoking cigarettes in a setting where music felt almost like an afterthought. We ended the night at Womb -- a nightclub that we were keen on checking out as it featured in an iconic scene in the film Babel. Unimpressed, we called it a night…
Thus far, everything about Tokyo had impressed us -- barring the city’s nightlife. Japan’s rich culture and history made for great sightseeing, Tokyo’s unique neighborhoods each had their own identity, and the food was the best we had ever eaten… post dinner, however, the wide array of bars and clubs had all left us disappointed.
(The Chiyoda skyline, as seen from the Imperial Palace Gardens)
The next night we decided to check out the bars in Ginza -- and it’s here that we found Tokyo’s real post dinner gems. Our first stop was Lupin, a tiny basement bar with ageing bartenders who made the meanest Moscow Mule I have ever had. Next was Bordeaux -- a handsome little bar occupying a house that has survived World War II and the constant threat of redevelopment in Tokyo. The real cherry on the cake, however, was Bar Orchard Ginza -- which was almost impossible to find but worth the long and determined search. In Tokyo, bars and restaurants are usually small -- and while in restaurants it’s the main chef who prepares everything, Tokyo’s best bars are run by award winning mixologists who make every single drink.
Bar Orchard Ginza, like most Ginza bars, is tiny. You walk in and the only seating is along the wooden bar, with a few additional chairs filling up the rest of the tiny and cramped space. There is no menu -- just a platter of fresh fruit, and a smiling award-winning mixologist who points at the basket and asks you to choose something. I chose poremengate, and spent the next several minutes witnessing an exhibition… smoke rose from behind the bar as he prepared the perfect frozen cocktail, courtesy liquid nitrogen. My next drink was a strawberry concoction, and describing it as a ‘cocktail’ doesn’t do it justice. This was hands down the best bar experience I have had, as the drinks were excellent, and the bartender deserved the mixologist tag that so many of his kind just do not.
After spending a couple of days in Kyoto, we returned to Tokyo for a final meal. We chose a sushi dinner at Edomae Hattori -- a small sushi restaurant in Roppongi. Remember, before my trip to Japan, I didn’t really eat any seafood, and have usually shunned sushi in Delhi and elsewhere. Sushi in Japan is something else altogether. Each piece is prepared by a sushi chef, and has a flavour that is distinct and unique. You are not meant to laden it with soy sauce and wasabi -- ingredients that make sushi in other parts of the world edible! In fact, the chef would indicate which pieces can be dipped in soy -- and they were few and far between. If wasabi were to be included, the chef would add it, and that too, sparingly.
I’ve traveled my fair share, and very rarely have travel experiences elicited a change in outlook. Japan was one such experience -- the culture itself is so unique, as western modernity exists seamlessly with eastern philosophy. The culinary experience is worth that plane ticket and more, especially as it instructed me to not be so rigid -- and while this lesson applies to how I view food and experiences, it also has relevance in a context far larger than that.
