530 am. Gabe and I fortify ourselves with Boss canned coffee and head off to Tsukiji (rhymes with “squeegee”) Fish Market.
Evidently one of the workers had climbed up to the roof rafters to change into his gear.
715 am. First breakfast, surrounded by workers having their 7am lunch:
735 am. Second Breakfast:
740 am. Third Breakfast:
Temple next door to Tsukiji:
On the way to our Fourth Breakfast (superlative iced mochas and pastries from Doutor, coffee chain extraordinaire) we happen upon an eyewear sign unlikely to be repeated. These sorts of things are our only means of orientation in a city almost entirely devoid of street names and numbers. In the alleys near Suitengumae subway station, for instance, nobody has any idea where the Royal Park Hotel might be. After all, it is only a massive 20-story hotel and is a full three blocks east.
Clark Smith, a fellow coin enthusiast, worked as a securities trader for ten years in Tokyo and speaks fluent Japanese. He generously offers to take us to a few of his favorite spots and restaurants, starting with the Ukiyo-e (“Pictures of the floating world”) wood-block print museum. At the entrance you are asked to change into comfy slippers:
Next stop, kiddyland. Fantastic toy selection. I manage to pick up some “ash” colored hair dye, a toy eel decorative cell phone widget, and an electronic cockroach with motion sensors.
Nothing like a nice cool iced matcha (green tea) latte to take the edge off. This place had everything matcha imaginable.
We spent most of the rest of the afternoon trying to extricate our coins from the kind gentlemen of the Japanese Customs Agency, with the help of Clark, his mother-in-law’s cell-phone and the local DHL staff (much more about this in the next post). Then it was off to the Ginza neighborhood for a tempura dinner. Very nice clean platings, here. The Japanese love shutter-bugging away at meals, hence the meta-shot of Clark's wife (Yuka?) photographing Gabe’s appetizer selection of pickled bits and bobs.
Pachinco. Clark mentions that the US wrote the majority of current Japanese law during Occupation (including the gambling statutes); this explains the swiss-cheese enforcement apropos vice law, which has no real basis in Japanese culture.
The TICC starts tomorrow. Try to get a few hours of shut-eye.
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