The Most Beautiful View of Tokyo and Fuji

Though one of the shorter observation decks in Tokyo, Bunkyo Civic Center's central location offers impressive views of Mount Fuji behind the skyscrapers of the Shinjuku District on one side, and the Tokyo Skytree on the other. The free observation deck can be found on the 25th floor of the building, while the lower floors house the offices of Bukyo city ward. Immediately below the civic center is Tokyo Dome City and Koishikawa Korakuen.

Bunkyo Civic Center

Hours: 9:00 to 20:30 Closed: 3rd Sunday in May, December 29 to January 3 Admission: Free Deck Height: About 130 meters

International Gallery Beams in Harajyuku

Amongst the diverse collection of Beams stores that line Meiji-dori, the one with the most elegant and luxurious ambience would have to be International Gallery Beams. The basement floor and first floor carry the women’s collections, and the second floor features items for men. This store offers the sophisticated shopper a look at the essence of Beams’s expert fashion selections, from established labels to the work of promising new designers.

Address:	B1F-2F, 3-25-15 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Tokyo
Opening hours:	11am-8pm
Transport:	Harajuku Station (Yamanote line), Takeshita exit; Meiji-jingumae station (Chiyoda, Fukutoshin lines), exit 5

see other spots around this

Japanese Marvelous Stationaries -vol.1 Writing Tool

 

1）Pilot FriXion Ball Erasable Gel Pens
@about 100-700yen (depend on types)










You can get erasable ballpoint pens and erasable highligter half cheaper thancontries other than Japan.


My recomendation is the 4 colors ballpont pen. I always standing extra lead in my office, my home and also my bag.
You may find the 3 colors pen anywhere, but if you want 4 colors, you must go big stationary stores suchi as Tokyu Hands, Loft, Ito-ya and Yodobashi Camera Multimedhia Akiba.   

2)Kokuyo Beetle Tip Dual Color 3 way Highlighter
 @about 100yen

If you go to big stationary stores, you aloso check these highligters.






3)Deco Rush- Decoration Tape
@about 150yen

Upon pulling the tape, you can get printed patterns for creating simple decorations. Differently combined patterns make the decorated object to appear more delightful and easily seen. Portable retractable pen type.

There are more than 150 patterns!

What Kind of Sushi Do Foreign Residents in Japan and Do Japanese Like?

back to the article "Very Important Things When You Choose a Plate of Sushi at the Conveyer-Belt Sushi Bar".

Very Important Things When You Choose a Plate of Sushi at the Conveyer-Belt Sushi Bar

(1)MAKE HOT TEA BY YOURSELF!
Firstly, take a new tea cup around your table (It's always there.) , put green tea powder in it and put hot water in from tap in front of your table. This tap water always just boiled and too hot to drink soon.

During you wait your tea became good temprature,
look at a conveyre and signs to check points (2) to (4).

(2) KNOW CHEEP FROM EXPENSIVE !

The bill is calculated by counting the number and type of plates of the consumed sushi. Plates with different colors, patterns, or shapes have different prices, usually ranging from 100  to 500 yen. The cost of each plate is shown on signboards or posters in the restaurant. In general, cheap items come on plain plates, and the level of plate decoration is related to the price. The most expensive items tend to come on gold colored plates. Expensive items may be placed on two plates, with the price being the sum of the prices of the individual plates. Some conveyor belt sushi restaurant chains, such as Kappa Sushi or Otaru Zushi, have a fixed price of 100 yen for every plate.



(4) KNOW FRESH FROM OLD!
The kaiten sushi (the conveyer belt sushi bar) system has its weak points.
The biggest is that one can never be certain how long a partilar plate has been on the merry-go-round conveyer belt.

The important thing is to look at them closely and you'll see
that the surface of the old one appears dry.




(5)Even if there is nothing you want to eat on the conveyer , NEVER GIVE UP !
When you can not find your favorite, call sushi chefs and order like
 " Sumimasen, (Please),   maguro (tuma) ! "

If you do not know Japanese name, refer to below:
 ◆Engulish-Japanese
     ark shell-akagai
     cucumber sushi roll - kappa maki
     eel -anago
     egg-tamago
     horse mackerel-aji
     mackerel -saba
     octopus-tako
     pacific saury -sanma *only Autum
     sardine-iwashi
     sarmon (normal) sarmon
                  (fatty) -toro sarmon
     sarmon roe-ikura
     scallop -hotate
     sea urchin eggs -uni
     shrimp (raw) -ama ebi
                 (boiled) -mushi ebi
     squid (tube)- ika
               (legs)- geso
     tuna (normal red) -maguro
             (medium fatty)-chu toro
             (fatty)-toro
      tuna minced with welsh onion leaves -negi toro
      yellowtail (hatchery)-hamachi
                       (wild)-buri

-------------------------------------------------
【next article】
  What Kind of Sushi Do Japanese Like, and Do Foreign Residents in Japan?

These Japanese brand clothes are only 100 yen in Tokyo !!

Truly, I don't want to let many people know this valuable shop
because I want find good clotes from many variety of assortment...but, today I inform this finaly.

I could get these clothes at the secondhand shop in Asakusabashi.
Uniqlo is not cheap any more in Japan!

Name of the Shop: Tresure Select
Opening Time:10am-7pm

Location Map:
 the shop in Asakusa

the shop in Asakusabashi














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Value Bus Tour :cheaper than visiting by public transportation

"NY Apple"-like tourists bus in Tokyo is the Hato-Bus.

They have a lot of tours everyday but you won't feel much merit in using the tourist bus to get to easy access land marks.But for certain sopts to see, the Hato-Bus is the best way to go.


The valuable route they offer is:

  "Tokyo One-Hour Tour on Open Top Bus / Panolamic Tokyo"

 Route:
Tokyo Station-Imperial Palace-National Diet Building-Tokyo Tower-Rainbow Bridge-Odaiba-Odaiba Ferris Wheel-Ginza
    
 These spots are very famous but you do not need to enter inside, so you can save time to experiencce deeply in other sights.
  And you can access free wi-fi on the bus.

   Adult 1,600 yen
   Child (4-11 years) 800 yen

   for more imformation, visit Hato Bus Official HP

Gundam Cafe in Akihabara : an Out-of-This-World Experience

Located just a few strides from the Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara Station,
Gundam Café offers an interesting adventure and a relaxing space for famished adventure-lovers, both locals and tourists alike.
With the futuristic interior design, you will enjoy an out-of-this-world experience as you let the ambience take you to the imaginative world of Gundam Wings.



The café creates this atmosphere with a profusion of Gundam-inspired decorations and delectable original dishes, and you can allow yourself to get lost in your anime-packed imagination.
Friendly receptionists clad in brilliant-colored anime uniforms welcome hungry customers with a salute and an accommodating smile.
You can indulge yourself in their very own robotic menu, with dishes garnished according to the Gundam robot of your choice.
So who says you can not have fun while eating?
Both children and adults can enjoy eating and playing with their toy-like finger food at the same time; it will satisfy their hunger, along with their creative imagination, due to the café’s variety of Gundam-themed meals.

A bowl of curry decorated with robot-cut vegetable garnishing costs around ¥1200, with additional toppings costing from ¥50 to ¥100.
 A bowl of salad and other appetizers, depending on your choice, ranges from ¥430 to ¥630.
For drinks, legal aged customers can quench their thirst with their original Gundam-themed cocktails served from 5:00pm until closing time.


If you are also looking for something to take home to your family, Gundam Café provides souvenir food and snacks that can not be bought anywhere else, like the Gundam robots-shaped manju and the

Satisfying your appetite won’t ever be any distraction from your child-like fantasy when you can both eat and play with Gundam Wings.

 

See Access Map

Which beef bowl shoud we eat? Reccomended Ranking of Fast Beef Bowl Restaurant

Beef bowls are loved not only by Japanese but by foreigners who visit Japan as well.
There are beef bowl franchises that have advanced into overseas markets and which have been introduced via video sites so that it seems like the beef bowl has acquired the “typical Japanese food” status.

 Here I present the 4 most popular “gyudon” chain stores in order descending recomended.

These all are low prices, but each tasts are differnt.

Which beef bowl do you want to try?

 

*all prices are as of 13 Feb.2016

 

1. YOSHINOYA

The best beef bowl franchise is “Yoshinoya”, an old-established restaurant.

It has a strong preference of using imported beef from the United States and selected seasoning to maintain the same recipe from the start, offering an unchanging product which seems to be the secret why it is so loved by the public.

 

 

2.MATSUYA

For those that know of Matsuya, they may think that is not a beef bowl restaurant,

yet more of a general eatery, however, Matsuya has its origins in beef bowls and is its flagship dish.

Yet they do have a wide variety of menus besides just beef bowls,

such as yaki-niku (grilled meat), hamburger steaks and curry,

and if you are eating in, they serve you miso-soup

even though you only ordered just a beef bowl.
By the way, for a little bit of trivia, in Matsuya they call it “gyu-meshi (rice with beef)” instead of calling it a beef bowl.

 

 

3.NAKAU 

“Nakau”: the restaurant with the catch phrase of serving “food topped rice bowls

and Kyoto-style noodles” has a variety of menus from noodles,

buckwheat noodles, katsu-don (bowl of rice with pork cutlets served on top), 

oyako-don (bowl of rice with egg, chicken and vegetables) to even curry rice.

Among those, the beef bowl of Nakau was improved in February, 2014

changing its name to “Gyu-suki don” (sukiyaki beef rice bowl).

My favorite in Nakau is not beef bowl but Oyako-don.

 

 

4.SUKIYA

The beef bowl of Sukiya has a variety of toppings and sizes.
There is a variety of green onions, ponzu mixed with grated radish, okra with grated yam, green onion with raw egg, pickled mustard leaf with pollack roe, 3 types of melting cheese mixed together, Korean pickles and vegetables with rich miso etc..
Other than just beef bowls, they also serve tekka-don (tuna bowl), sumibi buta-don (char-grilled pork bowl), yaki tori-don (grilled-chicken bowl), tori soboro-don (minced chicken bowl) and chuka-don (bowl of rice with stir-fried vegetables and seafoods, Chinese style).

 

 

 

the best seat for viewing Fujiyama from Shinkansen

If you are planning to move during Tokyo and Nagoya, Osaka or Kyoto,
I reccomend you to take seats of Sinkansen which are good for viewing Fujiyama.


Fujiyama View Seats are always "E(window)".
 ( both when you go to West from Tokyo and when you go to Tokyo from West)

How to choose cheap coffee shops for different purposes?

There are so many self-serve coffee shops in Japan.
A leisurely cup of carefully blended coffee is one of the great plesures.
Then, how do we Japanese select shops in cases?
Let's see here!

   1.for coffee after tasty Italian lunch
   2.for long time break with coffee
   3.for smoking with coffee
   4.for the cheepest tasty coffee


1.for coffee after tasty Italian lunch - - - PRONTO

This is no longer a just coffee shop!
Its' taste of pasta is much more delicious than general italian restaurants.
Particulaly, I recomend "Basil flavored pasta with shrimp and avocado" and
"Pasta with tomato flavored cream sauce and shrimp".


2.for long time break with coffee - - - Mister Donut

You can drink coffee as much as you want !!
by just telling a clerk  "okawari". (Okawari means one more cup full.)
and you can say okawari many times needed.
The cost is only for the first cup 270JPY.


 3.for smoking with coffee - - - Doutor

Japan was one of the more smoker-friendly countries,
but thoese days many coffee shops from U.S. and E.U. prohibit smoking.
In Doutors, there are smoking areas without an exception.
What is more, their foods are so tasty ( especially "Milano Sand A") .

 4.for the cheepest tasty coffee - - - Caffe Veloce

You may have heard that everything in Japan is smaller and more expencive,
 but perhaps they don't know Japanese valuable shops such as Cafe Veloce.
 You can drink a good mug-cup of coffee by only 190JPY here.
I also recomend a coffee jerry with ice cream 300JPY.


YOU CAN FIND THESE SHOPS ALL OVER TOKYO★

Starbucks? Turrys? of course there are, but I don't go there
because they are not attract me compared with those shops above.

Cheap! Capsule Hotels in Tokyo

The futunistic beds of cupsule hotel are about the size of a single matless,
but come equipped with television, radio and an alarm clock.

When you sleep in one of these cupsules, you feel like a worm
in a cocoon-cramped but oddly comfortable.


◆Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel


location:Shinjyuku
Price: 2000JPY～

◆Hotel Asakusa & Capsule


location:Asakusa
Price: 1500JPY～




In recent days, stylish capsule hotels are gradually increase.
◆Centurion Cabin and Spa - Ladies Only


location:Akasaska
Proce: 3700JPY～

◆Grids Hostel Lounge Akihabara
 
location:Akihabara
Price: 3700JPY～

◆First Cabin Haneda Airport
  
location:Haneda
Price: 4500JPY～

Accomodations: less than 4000 yen /per night /per peoson for stay in the center of Tokyo

Accomodation fee has been more and more expencive in Japan in recent days.
Even Japanese people can no longer pay it easily any more.

well then, how can they pass a night if they miss a last train to home?

NOTICE:
・These are only for peoson who do not mind hospitality.
・These have shower facilities and spaces for lay down.
・These do not accept reservation.

 1. the Sleeping Box Unit( Capsule Hotel ) - - -about 2500 yen

 

see more information about capsule hotels
 

 2. all night Sauna - - - about 2500 yen *only for men


 3. all night Spa - - -about 4000yen



 4. Love Hotel - - -about 8000yen for 2 people *only for couple



 5.all night video room - - -about 2000 yen *only for men


 6. all night internet cafe (private booth) - - - about 3000 yen

The shop which attract global fasion desiners! ...but these are blue workers uniform in Japan.

Mannen-ya  in Nishi-Shinjyuku


Foregn celebrities bypass the famed streets of Ginza for a chance to at Mannen-ya.
Located not in Ginza or Aoyama but in Nishi-Shinjyuku Station.
It's not exactry high fasion.
In fact, the look is basic blue collar uniform. But that's exactly what draws the likes of fasion designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier and Walter Van Beirendonck.
They find the jikatabi ( split-toed heavy cloth shoes) and 5 toed socks to be "novel designs", and prefer Mannen-ya to the high fasion boutiques of the city...

Mannen-ya is located behind the Shinjyuku Park Tower.

Adress:
8-2 3Chome, Nishishinjyuku, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023