Tokyo for The Curious Wanderers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Paper lanterns, concrete, and the long slow river.
No theme, just the city at its best. The sights that earn their reputation, a workshop or a market, one strange place nobody told you about, and dinner where the food is the point.
Friday: The old east side
- Yanaka Ginza
A shopping street of old shops, cats and croquettes. Stand at the top of the sunset steps as the lamps come on.
- Isetatsu
A shop of hand-printed chiyogami paper, made in the old way since 1864. Buy a few sheets and ask to see the woodblocks.
- Hantei
Skewers of seasonal vegetables and meat, fried in a 1927 wooden house. Order the set and eat on the tatami.
Saturday: Stationery, paper and the river
- Kuramae
A district of small makers and cafés beside the Sumida River. Wander the streets for leather, stationery and coffee.
- Kakimori
A stationery shop where you build your own notebook from covers, papers and rings. Order it at the counter and pick it up.
- Komagata Dozeu
Loaches stewed in a pot at a 1801 shop, an acquired taste. Sit on the tatami and order the dojō nabe.
Sunday: Strange museums and a cat temple
- Gōtokuji
The temple of the beckoning cat, where thousands of small white maneki-neko fill a shelf. Buy one, write a wish and leave it.
- Meguro Parasitological Museum
A free museum of parasites, including a tapeworm of 8.8 metres. Small and strange, and gone in forty minutes.
- Tonki
A tonkatsu shop since 1939, with a long counter and cooks frying in front of you. Order the rosu katsu.
Monday: Paper and a print
- Ozu Washi
A shop of handmade Japanese paper since 1653, with a small museum upstairs. Try the paper-making workshop on the third floor.
- Mokuhankan woodblock print workshop
Print your own ukiyo-e on a traditional press, taught by a master. Book ahead; the session takes about an hour.
- Daikokuya Tempura
A bowl of rice with crisp prawns and sesame oil, in a shop that has been frying since 1887. Order the tendon and eat it fast.