Katsuretsu Yotsuya Takeda is one of our favorite restaurants in Tokyo, so when deciding where to go for my birthday lunch, this was an easy choice. The restaurant opens at 11:00 AM, so we planned to arrive a bit early to ensure we were among the first in line. Since it was a weekday, we…
Why We Don’t Own a Car in Tokyo (And Don’t Miss It)
We sold our last car in 2013, thinking we might miss the convenience. Over a decade later, we haven’t looked back. Living in Tokyo, we’ve found that owning a car just isn’t necessary—and in many ways, it’s more of a burden than a benefit. Getting Around Is Easy Without a Car The train station, which…
From Minimalist to Multi-Monitor: My Home Office Upgrade
In 2022, we decided to get rid of our 27-inch iMac, try something new, and not buy a replacement desktop. Instead, we opted for iPads with keyboards and tried using those as our main personal computers. To log in to work, I would use my office laptop directly, eliminating the need for a desktop. Everything…
A Delicious Return to the Movies with The Solitary Gourmet
The last time we went to a movie theater was in 2022, when we watched Top Gun: Maverick. Three years later, we finally returned to the big screen to watch a Japanese film: The Solitary Gourmet (孤独のグルメ). While it’s nowhere near as grand as the Tom Cruise blockbuster, we found it equally entertaining in its…
Shogatsu this Year: A Day Trip to Southern Chiba
Shogatsu this year was particularly good since the holiday started on Tuesday, December 31st, and lasted all the way to Sunday, January 5th. Some companies, like my wife’s, even had December 30th off, giving them a full week of holiday. For us, we decided to stay home, do some household chores, and take it easy….
Welcoming 2025: Our Take on Osechi Ryori and Kohaku Traditions
This year, we decided to order Osechi ryori from a restaurant we frequent. Unlike traditional Japanese Osechi, this one had a more Western twist, which makes sense since the restaurant usually serves French or Italian cuisine. We made the reservation for the Osechi box back in October and picked it up from the restaurant yesterday,…
When a Simple Walk Leads to a Week Stuck at Home: My Tendon Tear Story
These past couple of weeks have been a little tough fitness-wise. I developed a tendon tear, which essentially prevented me from leaving home for a week, even making it difficult for me to move around our place because of the stairs. How it started My tendon tear came out of nowhere. I just did my…
Life with minimal social media
These past few months, I’ve been exploring life with minimal social media. I realized I was spending too much time on social media, and I wanted to fix that. One by one, I started limiting my access to these apps and then eventually deleting them altogether from my devices. LinkedIn was the easy first target….
The Day It All Came Together: My Best Tennis Match Ever
This is the story of how I lost the first set, but came back to eventually win the singles match I played yesterday night, in what I consider to be the best match I have ever played. I was playing more confidently, and I wasn’t bothered by injuries that have plagued me these past few…
Discovering a Great Tempura Spot in Musashi-Koyama
The other day, I visited Musashi Koyama shopping street, in Shinagawa Ward of Tokyo. This is a long covered shopping street with many restaurants, shops, and cafes, and is maybe one of my favorite shopping streets in Tokyo. It kind of reminds me of the big shopping streets of Osaka, but at least for this…
A New Landmark in Nihonbashi
The Nihonbashi area redevelopment is progressing well. The plan is to eventually redevelop the area around Japan’s famed bridge, even moving the much-despised overhead highway underground to bring back the bridge to its former glory. The riverside will become a more pleasant and more sunny place, surrounded by office buildings, shopping centers, cafes, and restaurants….
Exploring Togoshi: Tokyo’s hidden gem of parks, temples, and cozy shopping
Today, we explored Togoshi, a neighborhood that Tokyoites from nearby areas love for its cozy homes and charming shopping street. Surprisingly, even though it’s popular, many long-time Tokyo residents from other parts of the city don’t know about it. We started our small Togoshi adventure at Togoshi Park and then wandered into the nearby Bunko-no-Mori…
Enrico in Tokyo 