We finished up our two weeks travelling around Kyūshū with two days in Tōkyō before heading back to Real Life. The first of the two days — recounted in this post — saw us catching a shinkansen from Kumamoto to Fukuoka from where we flew back to Tōkyō and spent a slow day shopping around Asakusa in the afternoon and Shibuya in the evening.
Kumamoto
It’s still dark out when we check out of our hotel to catch one of the first trams in the morning to Kumamoto Station.
It’s super early but we’re glad it’s nowhere near peak hour as maneuvering suitcases through a packed tram is about the least fun thing to do (second only to lugging it up flights of stairs).
We make a quick stop at the convenience store outside Kumamoto Station to pick up a local ekiben and find these stylish Kumamon coasters.
By the time we’re on the shinkansen, there’s a steady crowd heading to work.
This is our first (and only) shinkansen ride this trip and we zoom past open fields between Kumamoto and Fukuoka just as the sun is rising.
Fukuoka
At Hakata, we change to the local trains to Fukuoka Airport (which is just 6 minutes away!). We chose to fly in and out of Kyūshū via Fukuoka due to it be cheaper (even after factoring in the cost of the shinkansen), and I have to admit that if it weren’t for the impeccable reliability of public transport in Japan, we would’ve never had even considered leaving Kumamoto on the same morning we were to fly out of Fukuoka. Kumamoto has its airport, after all, but the less frequent flights and the similar commute from the city centre to the airport made the Fukuoka the cheaper option.
Finally, having arrived at Fukuoka Airport and checking in our bags, we settle down for some breakfast. This is the Kumamoto Akagyu Lunch Box (¥1,000 +tax). Akagyu is a specialty type of beef from cows raised in the Kumamoto Aso area. Here, it comes in two forms — sliced and minced — and it tasted tender and juicy even when eaten cold. The bed of rice is shallow, but the portion is sufficient for breakfast, while the shredded egg and bamboo added variations in texture.
We find some dashi available in cartons at the gift store.
On the plane, we enjoy our SKY TIME KIWI. We don’t have many opportunities to try it, so yum!
Tōkyō
Back in Tōkyō, we immediately notice the crush of the crowds that we blissfully forgot while in Kyūshū.
Agora Place Asakusa
Agora Place Asakusa, 2 Chome-2-9 Kotobuki, Taitō City, Tōkyō 111-0042, Japan
In Tōkyō, we check in to Agora Place Asakusa, the hotel we stayed in the previous year, due to its proximity to shops and transport. In contrast to our earlier experience though, this time, they were very busy and the service quite lacking. They gave us the keys to our room, only for us to find the cleaners had yet to clean the room.
Happily, though, they held our bags for us and we returned to the room to find they’d also taken it up for us by way of apology. Their beds still have some of the firmest springs and fluffiest doonas we’ve experienced around Japan. Their pillows are still wheat sacks, though!
The toilet is everything we’ve come to expect — it’s cramped but it’s clean with a bidet and thankfully, no shared taps between the tub and basin.
Asakusa
While we waited for our room to be ready, we headed over to Kappabashi Street for some browsing and shopping for the home.
These ice cream spoons are cute!
We’re sad to discover that the satellite store for Antagata Dokosa has closed. Along with Kumamoto snacks, it sold various Kumamon themed merchandise.
Walking down the side streets towards the main part of Asakusa, we pick up this Kirin Peach and Pear Tea Soda featuring Disney Frozen 2. The peach notes were prominent with the pear coming through in the finish, while the flavour wasn’t strong and had a clear sweetness.
Near Sensoji Temple, we find this new-to-us shop front selling nothing buy tonkatsu.
We’re on a mission to escape the crowds and pass this store selling various instruments one usually finds in a medical setting.
There’s even an animal cafe attracting customers with their owls with the promise of hedgehogs, schnauzers, prairie dogs and even otters and meerkats. There’s something wrong about this…
Unatoto
名代 宇奈とと 浅草店, 1 Chome-5-2 Hanakawado, Taitō City, Tōkyō 111-0033, Japan
Finally, we make it out the other end of the covered shopping street and we’re relieved to find our eel restaurant exactly where we’d expected.
They’ve moved to a vending machine system and the prices have gone up by ¥100, but they’re still by far the most affordable eel restaurant we’ve encountered. The atmosphere with the eel grilling at the front of the store filling it with delicious smoke is still the same, though.
We’re greeted with mugicha after we’re seated.
And shortly after, we enjoy our delicious bowl of smoky, juicy eel that hits just the right spot before we head to the supermarkets to stock up on some grocery essentials before our flight the following day.
Shibuya
After a short rest in the hotel, we head to Shibuya.
And we’re shocked by how different Shibuya looks! There’s a whole new development around the station — Shibuya Scramble Square
It’s completely different and with various parts still under construction, we walk around aimlessly for a while before finding Shibuya crossing to reorient ourselves. We’ll have to explore it once again on a future trip!
Shibuya is on the other side of Tōkyō from Asakusa, but Google Maps promised a certain Tutu Anna store we’d seen on previous strips still existed. Alas, even Google can be out of date.
Instead, we headed over to the Don Quixote Mega Store. We’re greeted by a shiba inu version of Hachiko before finding a replica of the one near the station inside.
Bubble tea — or tapioca as it’s known in Japan — has taken off in Shibuya and Japan more generally. We even came across a ‘Tapioca Guide’ detailing the most popular spots in Shibuya.
Inside Loft, we find Starbucks branded origami drip coffee.
Genki Sushi
Genki Sushi, レジャープラザビル １階, Udagawacho, 24−8 , Shibuya City, Tōkyō, 〒150-0042 Japan
After a short trip to Lupicia, we make one last stop at Genki Sushi for a quick meal. The prices are now ¥120 (+tax) for the standard menu.
They had a special menu — Hokkaidō Fair — celebrating autumn seafood from the region. This is the tasting plate (¥470) (left to right: fatty tuna, blood clam, whelk, squid and lean tuna). I particularly enjoyed the whelk and blood clams for their firm texture and almost crunch.
We fill up with various plates of salmon, tuna and eel, while D enjoys many plates of the tempura teriyaki yellowtail.
I have to admit that the fast turnover and loud atmosphere inside Genki Sushi don’t particularly whet my appetite so I often find myself wishing I’d ordered additional types of sushi after we’ve left and I’d had time to look at the menu in more detail. There are so many tasty options from the Hokkaidō Fair. Perhaps it’s time we returned to visiting smaller sushi stores for the atmosphere rather than the price?
Tōkyō was Day 14 of 15 in this Japan 2019 trip around Kyūshū. Day 15 saw us staying in Tōkyō before returning to Sydney.