To be able to reserve public tennis courts in Tokyo, you will need the Tokyo Sports Facilities User Card (東京都スポーツ施設利用者カード), issued by the Tokyo local government. You can apply for this card at any of the Tokyo public parts that have tennis courts, including Hibiya Park, Shiba Park, and Kiba Park, and Ariake Tennis Forrest…
Category: Japan
Minamisenju Haircut
There are several places in Minamisenju where you can get a haircut. There’s Luft Hair in Bivi, Mignon in Branz Tower, and of course QB House (1,000 yen 10 minute haircut) in Lala Terrace. For 3,675 yen, I get mine from Ichi BDO a minute north-west of the station. The place is owned by Takamatsu-san,…
The New Livre Keisei
Dropped by Lala Terrace this morning and I noticed Livre Keisei (リブレ京成) is now adding some more finishing touches in preparation for the grand re-opening tomorrow (September 7, 2011). The entrance are still closed but there were lots of people inside and the doors are still covered so it’s hard to see what’s happening inside….
Sumida Fireworks from Minamisenju
On Saturday, Tokyo Shitamachi celebrated it’s biggest event of the year — the Sumida Fireworks 2011. Minamisenju, through the Shioiri park riverbank, offers an amazing view of the fireworks and thus, hundreds of visitors, dressed in their summer yukatas, come to see the spectacle every year. I went over to buy some food at Lala…
Tennis at Ojima-Komatsugawa Park
Tomorrow, I’ll be playing tennis at the Ojima-Komatsugawa Park in Edogawa ward, for the first time. Looking at Google Maps, the park looks massive with lots of open space and sports facilities. It looks like they also have a jogging path so I might use that to warm up before playing. It is also next to…
The Three Trains of Minamisenju
Minamisenju, though a relatively minor, mostly residential area, is lucky enough to have three train lines stopping at its station — JR’s Joban line, Tokyo Metro’s Hibiya line, and the Tsukuba Express. JR basically connects you to the massive JR train network, the Metro connects you to all the small corners of Tokyo, while the…
From Tokyo to Minamisenju
Right now if you want to go from Tokyo to Minamisenju by train, all your options would require you to change trains at least once. If you prefer JR, you can take Yamanote/Keihin-Tohoku lines but you will need to switch to Joban line at either Ueno or Nippori stations. If you prefer the Metro, you can…
Jogging in Minamisenju
I’ve recently started jogging and hopefully this time I succeed in making it part of my daily routine. I’ve tried many times before but this time, I believe I will succeed. I’ve been jogging regularly for about a month now. I started using a treadmill for about two weeks and now, I’ve starting jogging outside…
Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club
If Wimbledon has the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Tokyo has the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club. Both are more than 100 years old, both are rich in tradition, and both require players to dress up in white when using the club. One big difference would be the former hosts a yearly tournament known…
Minamisenju on Flickr
There is a Minamisenju Flickr group that collects photos related to Minamisenju. It’s a small group of about 100 members and the people there are usually very generous with their comments… especially this one guy called “tradewinds”, who I think posts a comment on *every* picture added to the group. Being a resident of Minamisenju,…
Rain and the Shiomi Hard Courts
Today, we played two hours of tennis at Shiomi. There was a baseball game at the park so it was a little hard to get parking space but luckily for me, the game just finished and people and their cars were just starting to leave. There was rain a few hours before the match so…
Doctor Fish at Lala Terrace
Today, Lala Terrace had some visitors that were sure to “sweep you off your feet”… literally. Doctor Fish was in town and for 500 yen, you get to spend 5 minutes with these tiny cleaners. I appreciate how Lala Terrace holds these regular, almost weekly events. It has become the community center of Minamisenju and I’m sure…
Enrico in Tokyo 