Walking through the door at Chotto Motto is like stepping through a time tunnel. An incredible space that looks like it is straight out of Tokyo in the Showa Era, maybe circa 1975? There is Ultra-man, Godzilla and retro pop-culture everywhere you look. So many Peko-chan and Anpanman, a haven for lovers of Japanese collectables….
Category: Culture
Sake Qualified
Back in May I wrote a blog about Super Sake Boy and I taking the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake course and examination. You can read the blog here. At the time we knew we would have to wait eight to ten weeks to receive our results. It occurred to me when I re-read…
Shohei Otomo…incredible ink ability
The week before last, Super Sake Boy and I went to the opening of Reiwa, Shohei Otomo’s exhibition on at SHDW Gallery at 112 Flinders Lane, in Melbourne. The opening was accompanied by the launch of a beer that Shohei-san had collaborated on with our friend Tomoya‘a restaurant, Chotto Motto, in Collingwood and Temple Brewing…
An Unexpected Cultural Adventure
On Sunday, Super Sake Boy and I had arranged to meet up with the very lovely Fujimoris, the couple we met at Shu Kura sake bar in Ponto-cho. Our conversation on the evening was very broken English/Japanese and somewhat sake fuelled, but fun and interesting, none-the-less. Super Sake Boy had painstakingly written his emails in…
Matcha, Sushi, Fairy Floss and Echoes of Murasaki
Saturday morning we decided to have a bit of a lazy and slow start to the day, as we had arranged to go to Uji with Maki and Senki and Sen-chan had track and field club in the morning. It was a good reason to have some down time. We did a bunch of washing…
A Day of Excellent Temples and Even More Excellent Sake
On Friday morning we headed out early after a reasonably early night. We had decided on a temple on the other side of town. Daitoku-Ji is a large temple complex, a branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen Buddhism. There are around six buildings of the main temple and then around 22 sub-temples. Established…
Fujioka Shuzo, The Secret is Out
Do you ever have one of those moments when you are travelling, when you stumble upon something truly special. Something that is not in the guide books. A place that captures the town or city that you are exploring. You get almost giddy with excitement. It’s like you’ve captured a Pulitzer Prize winning photo, or…
Antiques and Okonomiyaki
Saturday morning we had breakfast and headed out to one of the temples local to the guesthouse. This was my third visit to Kiyomizudera, Clear Water Temple, and every time it has something different to offer. I am really enjoying seeing the difference in the scenery of the places I know, in a different season….
From the Eastern Capital to the Old Capital
On Friday morning we got up and had sort of planned a day in Asakusa, at Senso-Ji and then taking an afternoon shinkansen to Kyoto. We decided to drop our bags for storage in Shinagawa station, as our shinkansen was leaving from there at 3:30. Only problem was we had not for even a moment…
Ebisu Yokocho
Many areas of Tokyo have awesome “yokocho”. Yokocho means alley and these alleyways are busy and bustling and full of amazing little bars and restaurants. They are loud and vibrant and narrow and a writhing mass of humanity, in the nicest possible way. We love these yokocho and they often have excellent yakitori places with…
Japanese School Lunch
Yesterday morning I was up early, eager and nervous, to start my adventure to my school’s (where I work) sister school in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. Chiba is next to Tokyo and not difficult to get to. Our sister school, Nambu Elementary School, is a primary school and I met the grade 6 teacher, Saeka-san, when…
Tokyo Never Disappoints
We arrived at Narita Airport around 8:30am, yesterday morning, everyone slightly disheveled and sleep deficient. Mum hates flying and the kids are not great plane sleepers…. I had more sleep than I regularly do, and we hit the ground running. JR passes efficiently processed by the lovely Hashimoto-san in the JR East office at Narita…
