Friday, April 19, 2024

tokyo toilet part 3

From Ebisu, we took the Hibiya line to Hiroo

This one is located in Hiroo East Park and designed by Tomohito Ushiro
Loved the huge rhododendron trees at the edge of University of Sacred Heart property, which is next to the park
Back at Ebisu station, at the West exit is this one designed by Kashiwa Sato

Ebisu East Park designed by Fumihiko Maki

Loved that there was a cherry tree right above, all the petals fluttering was nice
tako (octopus) slide at the park
always see this building from the train, was cool to see it up close
Higashi 3-chome by Nao Tamura.

This one seemed really compact.


And lastly Ebisu Park designed by Masamichi Katayama
we also visited Ebisu Shrine

It was nice to see different parts of Shibuya ward, it was also nice to learn that Shibuya has quiet areas and is not just sensory overload.

We’re not sure when we’ll be able to go see the movie, have you seen it?!

Anyway, if you visit Tokyo, and happen to find yourself in Shibuya, I hope you'll check out one or more of these public toilets.

We enjoyed this adventure and I hope you did as well.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

tokyo toilet part 2

Yoyogi Hachiman, by Toyo Ito looked like mushrooms
we then went up to visit Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine
 

Down the hill is Haru no Ogawa Park, by Shigeru Ban

The walls are supposed to be transparent and then when you are going to use them the walls turn opaque, but according the the memo on the toilet, the cold weather slows the walls from turning the walls opaque, so for “winter” they had the walls turned opaque even if no one was using the toilet.

love the colors! and that there were many cafes around this park
Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park, also by Shigeru Ban

Love the colors here as well.

The walls here were opaque as well
Nabeshima Shoto Park, designed by Kengo Kuma.
Tokyo People: nice day to gaze at the pond
The insides had nice wooden decor

And then we walked through the "heart" of Shibuya
 way too many people



Jingu Dori Park by Tadao Ando

We were kind of starving, so we ducked into this pasta place, Pan Con Tomate for lunch...

I had their cold salad pasta, bummer they noted tuna on the menu but there was none to be found in this AND it was dressed way too much with dressing...1750 yen (tax included)

would try something else if I come back here

I hadn't been to Harajuku since before the pandemic, so I was surprised to see this monster building...Harakado, which opens this week.
Togo Shrine's azaleas were beautiful
Jingumae by Nigo, looked like a house
Painted rocks at an art gallery
so many tall buildings
Urasando designed by Marc Newson

From here we caught the JR Yamanote from Yoyogi to Ebisu.

Our feet were pretty tired at this point...but only 5 more to see!

Pan Con Tomate
6-17-15 Jingumae, B1
Shibuya, Tokyo
Open daily: 11:00-15:30 (lunch), 17:30-21:30 (dinner)

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

tokyo toilet part 1

The other day, Tamakikat (she no longer has a blog), asked me if I had visited the Tokyo Toilets

I knew about them, and about the film, "Perfect Days", but hadn't gone out to see them.

I don't know about you, but I usually freak out if I have to use a public toilet especially in Hawaii, because they are usually dirty and I always worry about my safety in them.

Japan toilets, especially the ones in the train stations are relatively clean and relatively safe, so I thought it would be interesting to see how the public ones outside would be.

It turned out that Satoshi was interested in seeing them too, so on Saturday that is what we did.

There are 17 to see, I mapped out our route, and we started out at the one "farthest" away from where we live, Sasazuka

All are in Shibuya ward and when you start walking you will quickly realize how big Shibuya ward really is.

To blog about each one in one post, would make this post too long, so I broke up our experience into 3 parts.

This particular toilet was designed by Junko Kobayashi.

Next was Hatagaya, which was designed by Miles Pennington
You should know that each toilet in this project is wheelchair accessible
Nanago Dori Park, designed by Kazoo Sato
Bummer the women's toilet was broken at this location
Down the street was Sunday Bake Shop, we picked up some snacks here.
on the way to Nishihara, I spotted this man, loved the atmosphere of his shop too
Loved the rounded windows on this building
Nishihara 1-chome Park, designed by Takenosuke Sakakura


People! take your rubbish home...

We sat on the stools in the Nishihara 1-chome park and had banana bread...450 yen (tax included)
and lemon cake 480 yen (tax included) from Sunday Bake Shop, delicious and moist (I'll be back to Sunday Bake Shop the next time I am in this area)
Then to Nishisando...love the cherry blossom reflections on the balconies
Nishisando, designed by Sou Fujimoto

You should know that you'll often see taxi drivers parked in front of public toilets around Japan, taking a break, waiting for a new fare

loved the sinks on this design

Sunday Bake Shop
6-53-3 Honmachi
Shibuya, Tokyo
Closed: Mondays
Hours: 7:30-17:00 (Sundays) 8:00-15:00 (Tuesdays), 7:30-18:00 (Wednesdays & Fridays), 7:30-15:00 (Thursdays & Saturdays)

Tokyo Toilet Project website

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

this and that

freesia explosion, photo taken awhile back so not many left

though there is a pot with “late bloomers” in it, hopefully they will bloom in a couple of weeks
so teeny
bob bagel's chocolate chip cookie, this had lots of chocolate in it!
sun merry's rolled croissant...meh, this had a weird smell, like the oil was rancid…eek
 

m.3546's bleu cheese honey and walnut, which I had stuck in the freezer...they work the cheese into the dough and so when you eat it there is lots of bleu cheese flavor, there are also burnt bits of cheese...love!
tokyo people: trying to walk 3 dogs

Last Tuesday the winds were krazy and so was the rain

My umbrella got turned upside down several times and the wind was pushing me down the street.

Scary stuff! cannot imagine what it will be like when typhoon season actually comes around.

Of course, all the wind and rain, shook a lot of cherry blossom petals off the trees...

Hope your week is off to a nice start