Since I wrote about DYRTFT2, I have posted the odd vignette but I haven’t maintained a day-to-day diary like part of my brain and versions of my past self reckon I should. So here’s a brief, hopefully memory-evoking* skip through the past few weeks of living in Tokyo. I will try to limit myself to one picture per day. Try.**

Day five:  assorted grilled meats

Post-club recovery and acclimatisation. In the evening, ate at this rather atmospheric alley of restaurants and bars in Ebisu, situated in the bowels of an abandoned shopping centre.

 
Day six: that’s not a zoo, that’s a petting zoo

To kichijoji, and Inokashira park zoo, for bikes, a record shop, guinea pigs, and Japan’s oldest elephant. It remembers the whole of the country’s post-war history, but is yet to draw any conclusions.

   
      

Day seven:  urban exploring

Urban exploring is a fancy way of saying I went for a walk. I wrote about it here.

Day eight:  Yolo in Yokohama

I really enjoyed this port town. It had a lot of interesting history, and the Yamate museum up on the hill gave an excellent sense of the country opening up to foreign influence as part of the Meiji restoration. The house in which the museum is housed was built in 1909: not old by British standards, but the only one that remains as an example of the architecture of the period.

We also went to Chinatown for enormous buns and tea, and enjoyed mucking about by the harbour front.

  

  

  

   

 
Day nine: the climbing of mount Tsukuba 

Also features a science park. Everyone loves science parks! Blogged about it in full here.

   
  

Day ten: vintage and hip hop in Koenji

Koenji is kind of a hipster area, full of youths in expensive vintage clothing. It’s a nice day to spend an afternoon gawping at people, dogs and bikes. We also had excellent curry before heading to an Instagram friend’s hip hop club night, which also sold curry. I had a White Russian and listened to an excellent set of 1980s anime theme tunes followed by the Beastie Boys.

   
         * for future James, I mean, that wizened fellow that doesn’t exist yet, but who might be reading this sentence

** massive fail!