日本
Eryn’s Iaido dojo, 西海岸居合道道場, visited Tokyo in November to study. Her trip happened to partly overlap with my trip to Kobe for W3C TPAC , so we both went a few days early, before our other commitments. This was my twelfth visit to Japan, and her third.
大阪
We took UA35 to KIX and spent a couple nights in Osaka. We stayed at Hotel The Flag in 心斎橋, a short walk from 道頓堀, Osaka’s famous canal that bursts with nightlife. After checking in and dropping off our stuff, we wandered along the canal for a bit before stopping for お好み焼き and a beer at 燻製とクラフトビールのお店 燻.
We spent the next morning in 大阪城公園. We toured 大阪城, and visited 豊國神社, a Shinto shrine on the castle grounds. Afterwards we headed to 이쿠노 코리아타운 for lunch, where we ended up eating at らぁめん しゅき. After lunch we wandered around 梅田. We stopped by the 阪神百貨店, where I picked up a few things at the 阪神タイガース’ team shop.
We killed some time in a 喫茶店 in 堂山町, and then met up with Danielle for drinks and dinner—we just happened to overlap in town for one night. It was lovely to catch up. We’d only met once before, in Toronto, though we’re not quite sure when—she thought 2016, but I think it was some time in 2019.
The next day was our last in Osaka. After picking up a couple 新幹線 tickets we wandered back down to Dotonbori, where we visited 法善寺 and had a coffee at Unreal Cafe, overlooking the canal. From that vantage point, amongst a gallery of street art along the canal, some Gaeilge across the canal caught my eye. It was Brú na Bóinne, a Japanese fashion brand. I popped in, bought a bandana, and had a nice chat with an siopadóir.
東京
That afternoon we took のぞみ390号 to Tokyo. We bought bento boxes in the station before boarding, and had a late lunch as the countryside streamed by.
Our home base while in Tokyo was an AirBnB in 高田馬場. After successfully lugging all our crap across town and dropping it off there, we wandered the neighborhood for a bit before having dinner at Oriental Elephant and a pint at Baird’s Takadanobaba Taproom.
Our first full day in Tokyo started with coffee and toast at REC Coffee’s 渋谷東 location, a favorite of ours from our 2023 visit. We also briefly stopped at 金王八幡宮, an ancient Shinto shrine right across the street from the coffee shop. We waved to ハチ公, the goodest of boys, as we walked past 渋谷駅 and across 渋谷スクランブル交差点 to the Apple store, so I could pick up something I forgot to pack. We paid a brief visit to 代々木公園 while in the area. We spent the rest of the day with Mike & Nao. We had lunch together at 玄, then spent the afternoon and evening over at theirs with the kids. They’re always so good to us when we visit. When we got back to ’Baba we picked up some groceries at 西友 and hit the sack.
Thursday morning was chill for me—I did laundry and worked on this blog post while Eryn spent the morning practicing with her dojo-mates. After finishing laundry I took the 山手線 down to
Eryn and I met back up in the afternoon, then took a train out to 相模原市 in 神奈川県 to see Ali, Carey, and their kiddos. It’s always so nice to catch up. Ali’s life, and mine, have both changed so much since we first met.
On Friday we went on a day trip to 関市 in 岐阜県 with Eryn’s dojo to visit 濃州堂, a famous sword maker. We took のぞみ297号 to 名古屋, and from there rode a bus to Seki. I wandered the neighborhood while Eryn and her friends swung sharp things around. After they were done with their shopping, the shop owner took us all out for lunch nearby, and sent us to the 関鍛冶伝承館, where we learned all about the art of sword-making in Seki and saw many examples of fine Seki swords from over the centuries. I briefly visited 春日神社 next door while everyone else finished up in the museum.
We took のぞみ184号 back to Tokyo, and despite being tired, Eryn and I rallied and headed to
getting squashed onto a train with a bajillion drunk people
experience.
Saturday was relatively chill. Eryn and I got a slow start in the morning, which we both needed after the long day and night we’d had the day before. We eventually made our way over to
Eryn had iaido practice that night, so I was on my own. I met up with my friend Ray in 池袋, and we proceeded to do what we always do when we get together—drink a bit too much while talking about life, the universe, and everything. Our second stop of the night was at a Hub—a chain of British pubs in Japan—where I found myself loudly singing along with Amhrán na bhFiann at the beginning of the Ireland v. Japan rugby match. Eryn joined us at our last stop of the night—Bar 空 Urue, a cozy lesbian bar just north of 池袋駅.
神戸
On Sunday I headed down to Kobe for TPAC. Eryn stayed on in Tokyo until her dojo stuff wrapped up mid-week; she joined me in Kobe for the remainder of the trip.