Searching for serenity in Tokyo

After the bright lights dim, the incessant music from Roppongi dulls your senses & your head is throbbing from the crowds & the noise - may I suggest you restore inner calm with a trip to Nezu Institute of Fine Arts. This is a hidden gem only five minutes away from Omotesando Station.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

The Okura is not a cheap hotel - but if you can get a corporate/group rate it helps! The staff speaks good English & the service is great. They also have a good sized gym & proper lap sized swimming pools (indoor & outdoor)- I believe you can use the outdoor pool for a fee in summer time even if you aren't staying at the hotel.

The down side from my point of view is the location - it is just too far from anywhere to walk easily (about 25 minutes to Roppongi)-& the nearest Subway (Toranomon)is 10-15 minutes away (don't believe thenm when they say 5 minutes!)This means you have to take taxis everywhere or you're limited to eating in the hotel every night (which you don't want to do because it's expensive). However, the recently opened 'Starbucks' in the Shiroyama building just behind the hotel now gives a new alternative for breakfast/snacks & the constantly developing food/shopping court in Ark Hills (10 minute walk) means that eating prospects are improving in the area.

Having lived in a city for a long time (I lived in Tokyo for 5 years), I think it's always difficult to go back & stay in a hotel in that city you know so well & find it totally satisfactory. For me the hotel that comes closest to meeting my expectations is the Imperial.

It has a certain understated grace about it that's difficult to find in newer hotels (in Tokyo at least). The staff are very courteous & their English skills are good. For those not used to Japanese customs, the girls bowing & welcoming you by the elevator doors will charm & bemuse you, as will the old lady in the Tempura restaurant in the basement; when she quietly & determinedly starts tying a huge bib round your neck in the expectation that you won't be able to use chopsticks & are liable to drop your food down your front!

For the tired traveler - massages are available in room & a wonderful traditional Japanese hot bath & steam room is located in the health club (approx $US 10.00) fee required. There is also a nice indoor pool - but their cardio equipment leaves little to be desired!

Besides this the location is the best - slap bang in the middle of town - 2 minutes from Hibiya Subway Station, 3 minutes from Hibiya Park, 10 minutes away from the shops & restaurants of Ginza & 15 minutes away from the Imperial Palace.

On the downside, it is very expensive. Don't eat in the restaurants (especially the Sushi places!). Instead, walk out of the back of the hotel, go under the bridge & turn right onto a street littered with some of the best small Japanese (some Western too) restaurants in Tokyo & eat for half the price of the Imperial. Most of them have plastic food that you can point at & some of them have English menus.

'Chez Pierre' is as literal as it sounds as Frenchman Pierre greets, cooks & supervises proceedings in this great Tokyo restaurant. Located very close to Nogizaka station - Pierre specializes in preparing special dishes according to the produce of the season. (When I was last there it was 'mushroom' season & he concocted a wonderful mixed mushroom salad).

Oudoor dining is available during summer - although you are facing quite a busy road - terraces are a rare commodity in Tokyo - so take advantage of it! You should leave room for the cheese board - served the French way before dessert. Otherwise, sit back & relax & don't think too hard - let Pierre decide what he thinks is the best dish for you!

Lunchan Bar & Grill calls itself a Californian restarant & is open for lunch & dinner - but the atmosphere is very different.

Lunch time draws a mixed crowd of young Japanese women, foreign business people & Western mothers with babies! It is noisy & buzzes with conversation & the food is reasonably priced (by Tokyo standards) - with sets of soup, salad, sandwich & drink for approx. Yen 2,500 (Approx, US$25.00). The food is pretty authentic with no wierd sandwich ingredients or pizza toppings that is the case with many 'Western' restarants in Tokyo!

In the evening it becomes more formal, more expensive & less atmospheric - with mainly corporate diners enjoying their good but pricey wine list.

The best deal of all - & a hang out for local ex pats is the 'Sunday Champagne Brunch': 11.00 - 3.00, Yen 2,500 for a feast of Western delights!

We stumbled on this place by accident after living in Tokyo for many years! It's conveniently located at the back of the Imperial Hotel - go under the train tracks and turn right, it's located about a 5 minute walk on the rail track side of the street.

Tofuro - does indeed serve great Tofu and a variety of other great Japanese food - it's a great place to sample lots of small dishes of different regional cuisine. We had: tempura, sashimi, tofu, noodles, soup, yakitori & green tea ice cream.

They have an amusingly badly written English menu - but it doesn't include the daily/seasonal specials - so if you can go with a Japanese speaker to get the best out of the menu.

Isola is a new restaurant in Tokyo that is still relatively unknown - so go there quick before the crowds come! They have a wood fired pizza oven & there pizzas are very good - thin crusts & a good amount of fresh toppings (good pizza is hard to find in Tokyo!). Their wine list is a little expensive - but you could get away with about $50.00 per head if you didn't drink to much.

A relatively new Vietnamese restaurant with indoor & outdoor seating. The decor is lovely inside - with authentic Vietnamese artifacts & furniture - outside is also cool & breezy for summer nights. The food is OK - the soft shell crabs are good as are the spring rolls & pineapple rice - the lemon chicken is disapppointing. Unfortunately the service was terrible the night we were there - very slow & forgetful!

This is the funkiest restaurant in Tokyo - a Sunday/National holiday lunch institution! Ex-pats & Japanese alike love Las Chicas for it's laid back atmosphere & friendly, off the wall waiting staff, (mainly spaced out Antipodeans with a few other random nationalities thrown in for good measure). Menus are in English & the food is a great eclectic mix of Asian & Californian. Try the potato wedges, goat cheese pizzetta or rocket risotto washed down with a bottle of one of their divine Kiwi wines.

One thing you shouldn't expect is great, timely service - a lazy, kicked back atmosphere has always been key at Las Chicas anything else just wouldn't be the same!

This was bubble era dining at its finest - sushi actually came wrapped in gold leaf! This doesn't happen anymore but it's still one of the most expensive sushi places in Tokyo. Admittedly the portions are very big (you can barely fit a piece of sushi in your mouth in one go!)& if you are nervous about trying a smaller more 'Japanese' place with no English menus you should probably give it a go - but if you're feeling in anyway daring I'd recommend you skip it & go to somewhere not as famous which will serve Sushi that is just as good for half the price! (e.g. the Sushi- Sei chain)

Although the park is open year round the best time to go is during the 'ohanami' (cherry blossom viewing) season (end of March/beginning of April). In my opinion it is one of the best places in Tokyo to see the beautiful blossom. They have over 1,000 trees throughout the park - some are the 'double blooming' type which last after the regular blossoms have fallen off - so hence the '5/6 day' season is a little longer here than in most places in Tokyo.

It's also very easily accessible - as the park is directly above the subway station of the same name (on the Marunouchi line). As well as viewing the trees it's also a great cultural experience as you're bound to see hundreds of Japanese sitting on the obligitory blue plastic mats under the trees enjoying traditional food & drink! If you're feeling brave bring your own mat & picnic & join in the fun!

There is also a nice indoor botanical garden, lakes, a Japanese traditional garden & tea houses here if you're here at another time of year.

The Nezu Institute of Fine Arts: (5 minutes from Omotesando station, exit A5) Probably most famous for the 'Irises screen' by Ogata Korin - if you happen to be there on the right day in April/May - you may get the chance to see the elusive work of art which is usually kept in safe storage - but for these few days a year. People who have lived in Tokyo for years have never managed to see it - so good luck!

Irises aside, the reason you'll really want to come here is to search for serenity in the wonderful garden & tea house.

With hundreds of shady paths leading to carp filled ponds & old shrines - it is the model of serenity in the heart of Tokyo. Moss covered statues & water ornaments surprise you at every corner & if you concentrate hard enough you can block out all the sounds of the surrounding modern city & imagine yourself back in old Edo.

When you tire of wandering go for traditional afternoon tea - Japanese style at the old tea house. (The staff speak some English & more substantial food is also served).

Note entry to the garden/tea house is included in admission to the museum - you have to buy a ticket to enter.

A brief (50 mins) & painless train journey will whisk you away from Tokyo to the traditional seaside town of Kamakura. Take the 'Yokosuka line' from Tokyo station (trains leave about every 20 minutes & tickets cost about 800 Yen/70 cents)& get off at 'Kita-Kamakura' (rather than 'Kamakura'). It's worth looking at the excellent city of Kamakura website (www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/english/index.htm)for additional information & a printable walking tour map.

There are an awful lot of temples in the area & below are just a few of my favorites. You are going to walk about 2km from Kita-Kamakura down to Kamakura - seeing temples, shrines & traditional Japanese houses & shops on the way. If you're feeling like a swim - you can walk an extra kilometre to the beach or if you want to see a beautiful 'working' temple - that is free of tourists you can walk an extra kilometre on top of this.

When you get off at Kita-Kamakura the first temple you will come to, directly to the left of the station will be the Zen temple: Engaku-ji. This is a huge complex & well worth spending time looking into the various buildings - two of my favourites are: Shari-den (Shrine of the Sacred tooth of Buddah) & Butsu-den for it's magnificent dragon on the ceiling. I've been in both fall & spring & the gardens are beautiful in both.

If you cross over the railway tracks you'll come to Tokei-ji (on the right side of the street)which has a lovely garden in spring time. A bit further along is Jochi-ji famous for its old bridge at the entrance & burial caves. Before the tunnel, down the road towards Kamakura you'll see Kencho-ji on the left - here you'll find the oldest Zen temple in Japan & amazing cherry blossom in season.

Along the road where these temples are are numerous little craft shops, tea shops & more substantial restaurants. If you are looking for fast food - try the area in front of the station - they have the usual convenience stores & MacDonalds etc.

As a worthwhile side trip you can either walk (about 40 mins), take a taxi, or the Enoden train line to see one of Kamakura's most famous sights - the Great Buddah (Daibutsu) at Kotokuin temple.