We got a little bit of a late start today because of “Sleepy Head”.
Once up, we grabbed onigiri from the Family Mart. I like tuna and mayo. Owen got green veggie and seaweed. He liked his. I had a better brand the other day.
Onigiri
We had some shopping to do today. The goal was to get rain gear at Mont-Bell for our upcoming hikes.
Rain Gear
We started the search at the beautiful store In Ginza.
Ginza
They didn’t have my size so I headed to Akihabara to try.
Akihabara
Owen was more interested in hanging around Ginza and drawing in his notebook. We parted ways and planned on meeting back at the hotel.
The Mont-Bell near Akihabara was in a very hip area. There were trendy little shops all over and there were few tourists around.
Not only did I get the rain gear, I picked up some capris that Owen said I needed. I’m so glad he did. I love them.
After shopping, I stopped by a cool bar for a sake (nihonshu).
Sake (Nihonshu)
After my break, I walked to Akihabara proper.
It was better than I remember it.
The sun came out and it was so hot. I also missed Owen so I headed home.
Dinner with Nakagawa-sensei
Tonight we are meeting my old friend Hisashi for dinner. I can’t wait to see him.
Hisashi-sensei met us at the Meguro train station because he had a place he wanted to take us for dinner.
It was so great to see him. We were immediately comfortable as always. We even hugged at the train station.
He took us to a place that only makes one dish: tonkatsu. Tonkatsu is a breaded and fried pork cutlet. I thought he had said that we were going to a tonkotsu ramen place. I was pleased because I love tonkatsu.
Regardless, the place was amazing. They only make the one dish. It comes with cabbage salad, miso soup and rice. There was a line out the door which gave us a chance to catch up.
After dinner, we went for a drink. Hisashi brought photos of college days. We learned some of what he was up to. Hisashi got to know Owen a bit. We talked about the amazing plan for our upcoming trip to the “holiest city in the entire world,” Ise.
Hisashi learned that Owen studied some Japanese and began teaching and quizzing him. He has been Nakagawa-sensei since I met him.
We are going to have an amazing time in Ise. We will get a chance to meet Hisashi’s family Including his mother, brother, sister and their children. We will also meet Hisashi and some of his friends when we come back to Tokyo.