Inokashira Park

 One day in March I decided to head to Kichijoji to look at a ring. I didn't buy the ring, but I had noticed there was a very large park nearby. So I headed over to it.

Even though most of the sakura trees were waiting to bloom, there were still pretty flowers to be seen as I walked through the park. 

Inokashira Park is known for a few things, besides being a bit of an oasis in the vast concrete area of Tokyo. Inokashira Pond is one of the two primary sources of water for the Kanda River. 

There are a number of monuments through out the park, as any good Japanese park has. 

Including this, Ochanomizu. As the name implies it was a spring fed source of water, including water used for a tea ceremony by shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa.

The water now comes from a well but it still goes into the end of the pond and then into the Kanda River at the other end of the pond. It was a really nice water feature.

Various flowers were blooming through out the park.

Including some in the ume or plum tree garden. 

Hidden behind some branches and a couple spraying fountains were the buildings of Inokashira Benzaiten Shrine. 

There were magnolia trees also showing off. 

I think there is a monument to shogun Iemitsu Tokogawa up there. I didn't go up to look. I had a bit of walking to do this day so going up more stairs wasn't in my plans.

One of a couple long bridges that stretch across the pond. This one is near the Inokashira Park Zoo. 

I didn't go in there but there was plenty of wildlife to see outside of it. Like this Large-billed Crow. 

The park is actually a great place for bird watching. 

Including swan boats. 

There really are a lot of birds there. Like this Eastern Great Egret. 

And these Grey Herons. 

Inokashira Park is also known as the place where the Ghibli Museum is located. But this day I had dedicated to looking at flowering trees. Some other time possibly I will visit the museum.

So this was a little bit of my walk around Inokashira Pond in the park. But there was something I did visit there and that will be my next post.

Ikebukuruo Unagi Taiyaki and Moi même Moitié

You might wonder what the four things in the title of my post have to do with each other. Well, to start with, my accommodations for this trip were in Ikebukuro. This was my third time in the area and I've grown a little fond of certain aspects of it.

Like finding great places to eat. Such as Manmaru Ikebukuro Unagi. That う looking a little bit like an eel in the sign...

After my expedition to Maronouchi on March 19th, I finally made it back to Ikebukuro. And I had one goal. 

Unagi don at Manmaru. 

What I didn't know is the place loves a certain Western thing. That is, the Beatles. Be prepared if you go here, because that is all they play. Which is fun and makes a person feel welcome. 

What also makes a person feel welcome is sake. I decided to use what I had learned from "Wakako-zake" and I went with what they recommended. By the way, my waitress was wonderful. She spoke some English and also had a hairband for me.

Ah! A real "Wakako-zake" moment! I did a silent "pshuuu" while drinking this lovely sake. It might seem silly to some, but it was fun to watch the sake fill the glass and then the bowl holding the glass. 

You may wonder what this is. Well, it's deep fried eel spines, hone-senbei. Because one of the beauties of Japanese cooking is not to let anything go to waste if possible. And I did eat them. 

I also ordered tsukemono, or Japanese pickles. There was some daikon, cabbage with fresh gari or ginger, and cucumbers. I don't remember what the dark brown pickles were, they may have been narazuke, fermented in sake lees. It was all good. 

And my dinner. Unagi don! And this was the best unagi don I have eaten. They grill it over charcoal and it adds so much umami to the flavor. There was also a nice bowl of miso soup. 

And more kyuri asazuke, but I didn't mind. 

Sorry my photo of my unagi don isn't super clear. It just means I need to go back and get another bowl. I would do it even if the photo was clear because I really enjoyed this meal. Not expensive, near where I was staying and really nice staff. I'm looking forward to dining there again.

 Another fun place in Ikebukuro was a place I stopped at a day or two before this. Naruto Taiyaki Honpo. I was on my way back from a late run to Harajuku and I could not resist how appealing this place looked.

Fresh warm azuki and satsumaimo filled taiyaki. Very nice. 

As for the reason for my late evening trip into Harajuku, was because Closet Child got a few "new" items in. I missed a couple other things I wanted but I was able to get a Moi-même-Moitié Logo Cross. Which I was happy to find.

Café 1894 and Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum

My second destination on March 19th was a place I had thought about visiting before. Mistsubishi Ichigokan Museum is a renown art museum in the Marunouchi district.  

Originally built in 1894 from the designs of English architect Josiah Conder, the design is Victorian Queen Anne. However this is not the original building.

The original building was torn down in 1968. 

Materials and some of the original plans were used in this this rebuild on the property. The museum in the building was later installed and opened in 2010.

 Another part of the building is the recreation of a bank that also existed in this location. But now it's a place to eat at. Café 1894.

Inside they recreated the design of the bank, including a molded vaulted ceiling to give a feel of interiors of that era. 

I apologize for my slightly out of focus photo. I was hesitant to take photos, but the place was so interesting I couldn't resist. Inside was a bar between the columned pillars.

Even though the molding is newer, it really nice to see and added to the air of being transported back in time. 

As for what to eat, I was in time for their Lunch Mini Desert Set.

I ended up with this sandwich, soup, salad and shrimp plate. Part of the sandwich was smoked salmon which was delightful. The soup was tomato and there was a small bowl of berry preserves to put on the small piece of bread that hiding by the soup. I felt like I was at a picnic. 

The paper wrapping the sandwich was in English, complete with an ad for roses.  

Given what day it was, I had hoped for cake for the dessert. I was lucky, because it wasn't just cake but chocolate mousse cake with raspberry sauce, blueberries and mint. This is one of my favorite desserts and on this golden plate, I was very pleased. I enjoyed it with a nice cup of coffee. This was a perfect moment. 

"The Blessed Damozel" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The second part of this visit here was to see the "Parabola of Pre-Raphaelitism" exhibit.  This was not the first time I've been to an art exhibit in Japan, but I will say this was not my favorite. The layout in each room was not in an expected manner nor was it clear where photography was and wasn't allowed.

"Risen at Dawn, also known as Gretchen Discovering the Jewels" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I did appreciate the section where they not only displayed some of the master work of the period, such as these pieces by Rossetti, but also showed photos of the models like Jane Morris. This gave a human feel to the art. I love knowing the story behind art and music.

I would definitely recommend Café 1894.

This was an interesting part of my day. But it wasn't over yet.