Carol Cypher: A day to play in Tokyo before flying home

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A day to play in Tokyo before flying home

My friends at Tulip were still busy exhibiting at the Tokyo International Great Quilt Show and I had a day to play in Tokyo before flying home.
My friend Motoko Natsubori came from Hokkaido and we made the most of our day.
We arranged to meet Yumiko Karasawa for lunch. Yumiko was one of the principle organizers of my teaching event for Coronet and Gakusyu Forum the first time I came to Japan in 2008. I taught in Tokyo for a week and then taught or traveled to Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Yokohama. Yumiko
is seven months into her pregnancy and recently left Coronet Co.

We went back to the loach restaurant we'd enjoyed in a past visit with Motoko. It is her Dad's favorite, and ours too.

The entire floor is tatami mats and boards on the floor serve as tables.

The waitress delivers a pan of loach to the charcoal burner at our setting.

We add green onions and dashi and continue cooking them. When we consume that pan another is delivered. This is what the charcoal burner looks like when the pan is removed.

Afterwards we went to Asakusa. We went to Sensoji Temple, a popular Buddhist temple built in the 7th century before strolling Nakamise, the shopping street where I would replenish my Shichimi (Japanese 7 spice blend) and Japanese pepper. I think the name of the shop is Yagenbori and they sell fragrant fresh spice blends or upu can create your own. Plus Yumiko had gifted me a sweet decorated tin that is also the dispenser, of chili powder.
When our appetites returned qe stopped by a dessert cafe. Yumiko and I each had the scoop of green tea ice cream that is served with cubes of agar agar and moochi balls, on left and foreground. Motoko had a bowl of half sweet red beans and half a golden grain porridge.

Even if it wasn't raining, we would have sought a stroll in Mitsukoshi Department Store. Elegant fashions, fragrant cosmetics counters but, the best is the grocery and food department.
Even raw beef is pretty. Notice the marbling!