It is completely bizarre to think that this is the final Brit About Town blogpost from the home base of Daikanyama - from next week, we'll be forgetting all about the aerial yoga and extremely fancy bookstores and charming boutiques and delving into the yet-to-be-discovered delights of Kojimachi. If anyone has delightful Kojimachi/Hanzomon tips for me, please comment or tweet to @PerfectLiarsTKY.
So how did I spend my last week in Daikanyama? Well of course there was aerial yoga - freakishly for the first time I had a teacher who spoke some English. Finally after five months I got to hear the safety instructions before I went upside down. There was delighting in the posh Seria 100 yen shop. Buying posh olive oil at Vom Fass. And alarmingly expensive accoutrements for our imminent new dog in Green Dog. Daikanyama, we're going to miss you.
Spoken word events: The highlight of last week was the Apocrypha story night, with people telling a diverse range of stories, and your very own Brit About Town performing her infamous chopstick story. If you haven't heard it yet, you probably will...
Art and music... and fish: We went to the Julia Margaret Cameron photography exhibition at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Marunouchi at the weekend. Not only was the building quite cool, the portraits by this innovative 19th century British photographer were compelling, and quite startling for their time. Definitely worth a visit. (Note you get 200 yen discount if you bring a non-Japanese passport.) What's fun is that this exhibition was actually curated by the V&A Museum in London - and the gift shop is a bit like being in the British V&A gift shop. It's on til September 19th. While in Marunouchi we stumbled on several Tokyo Jazz Festival performances which was also delightful, especially the concert in the same square as the above museum (have you been to this charming square? I'm not sure what it's called but google Cath Kidson Marunouchi and you'll find it). If you're in that area and are a quiche and tart fan, don't miss Rose Bakery nearby! Delicious. And what about the fish, you ask? The Nihonbashi Art Aquarium! They have a goldfish themed show on til the 25th and it is interesting, hilarious: charming, attractive, kitsch, and after 7pm they have music and alcohol: what more could you want? I was delighted!
Film: The only film I saw in the cinema was The Secret Life of Pets. It was fun and pleasant but not really Oscar-worthy. That said, the TOHO Shinjuku cinema was sold out on Saturday night and we had a lovely time.
Highlights of Tokyo: the coolest things to do in the coming week
Fri 9 Sept: If you can get tickets, there's an Avenue Q concert fundraiser tonight.
Sun 11 Sept: One for the artists (or aspiring artists). My favourite arty gathering in Tokyo, PauseDraw, is meeting today. But I'm also adopting my new dog that day. Boo. If you don't have a new dog, what's stopping you?
Tue 13 Sept: In the mood for some new comedy? It's new material comedy night at Double Tall Cafe in Shibuya.
Wed 14 Sept: By day, the new Salvador Dali retrospective exhibition opens at the National Art Center. It sounds great. By night, it's the Good Heavens Comedy Club in Shimokitazawa - always fun open mic!
Thu 15 Sept: What a comedy extravaganza this week. Tonight try comedy at the Hobgoblin in Shibuya.
The forward look:
- 18-19: Get tickets for two plays in Kawasaki: Touch Me Not and A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup. I saw Miss Hiccup at the fringe festival in Washington DC and it is a weird, rather beautiful, family friendly, hypnotic, sort of clown-ish performance with no language needed.
- October: Check out the performances for Tokyo's international arts festival, Festival/Tokyo. Tickets now available.
So how did I spend my last week in Daikanyama? Well of course there was aerial yoga - freakishly for the first time I had a teacher who spoke some English. Finally after five months I got to hear the safety instructions before I went upside down. There was delighting in the posh Seria 100 yen shop. Buying posh olive oil at Vom Fass. And alarmingly expensive accoutrements for our imminent new dog in Green Dog. Daikanyama, we're going to miss you.
Spoken word events: The highlight of last week was the Apocrypha story night, with people telling a diverse range of stories, and your very own Brit About Town performing her infamous chopstick story. If you haven't heard it yet, you probably will...
Art and music... and fish: We went to the Julia Margaret Cameron photography exhibition at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Marunouchi at the weekend. Not only was the building quite cool, the portraits by this innovative 19th century British photographer were compelling, and quite startling for their time. Definitely worth a visit. (Note you get 200 yen discount if you bring a non-Japanese passport.) What's fun is that this exhibition was actually curated by the V&A Museum in London - and the gift shop is a bit like being in the British V&A gift shop. It's on til September 19th. While in Marunouchi we stumbled on several Tokyo Jazz Festival performances which was also delightful, especially the concert in the same square as the above museum (have you been to this charming square? I'm not sure what it's called but google Cath Kidson Marunouchi and you'll find it). If you're in that area and are a quiche and tart fan, don't miss Rose Bakery nearby! Delicious. And what about the fish, you ask? The Nihonbashi Art Aquarium! They have a goldfish themed show on til the 25th and it is interesting, hilarious: charming, attractive, kitsch, and after 7pm they have music and alcohol: what more could you want? I was delighted!
Film: The only film I saw in the cinema was The Secret Life of Pets. It was fun and pleasant but not really Oscar-worthy. That said, the TOHO Shinjuku cinema was sold out on Saturday night and we had a lovely time.
Highlights of Tokyo: the coolest things to do in the coming week
Fri 9 Sept: If you can get tickets, there's an Avenue Q concert fundraiser tonight.
Sun 11 Sept: One for the artists (or aspiring artists). My favourite arty gathering in Tokyo, PauseDraw, is meeting today. But I'm also adopting my new dog that day. Boo. If you don't have a new dog, what's stopping you?
Tue 13 Sept: In the mood for some new comedy? It's new material comedy night at Double Tall Cafe in Shibuya.
Wed 14 Sept: By day, the new Salvador Dali retrospective exhibition opens at the National Art Center. It sounds great. By night, it's the Good Heavens Comedy Club in Shimokitazawa - always fun open mic!
Thu 15 Sept: What a comedy extravaganza this week. Tonight try comedy at the Hobgoblin in Shibuya.
The forward look:
- 18-19: Get tickets for two plays in Kawasaki: Touch Me Not and A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup. I saw Miss Hiccup at the fringe festival in Washington DC and it is a weird, rather beautiful, family friendly, hypnotic, sort of clown-ish performance with no language needed.
- October: Check out the performances for Tokyo's international arts festival, Festival/Tokyo. Tickets now available.
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