About Those Seven Lucky Gods

While a lot of Ikebukuro is concrete and glass, a few interesting details can be found.

Like these flowers which have a molded metallic appearance. I think they are peonies.

And of course the Rougan-Megane Museum, which always is a good thing to see as I was headed back to the Zoshigaya area.

However, I noticed something I had not seen previously. A hokora for a lucky god?

In fact, it is Hotei of the Seven Lucky Gods, god of happiness and contentment. He is located at the Nakano Building in Zoshigaya.

Heading towards the shrine area, I saw that hydrangea were starting to bloom.

Also saw there were a number of notices about not playing Pokemon Go here. Later in the day when I came back this way, there was a group of various people standing around staring at their phones. It was a little strange to see since there are usually very few people in this area.

I'm skipping places I stopped at before, but I have to say, it was much lusher and greener here in this part of Zoshigaya than it was back in March.

I may have noticed this roof previously.

But I had not stopped here before.

This is Renkoin Buddhist Temple, part of the Nichiren sect.

It was a quiet small place.

Tea Time at L'Occitane Cafe

Grey clouds overhead this day in Tokyo. Still warm but I wanted to make the most of my time. I did find a way to get to the other side of Ikebukuro Station without going through Ikebukuro Station. That was good. It's a tunnel under the railroad tracks that takes one over to P'Parco. A department store geared towards younger shoppers. Baby the Stars Shine Bright have a shop in there as well as the Evangelion store. The top floors are Tower Records. There was a lot of plush and cute things in this place. I escaped without buying anything.

After walking a little, I found myself at L'Occitane Cafe. Once again, not having lunch, I decided to see what they had to offer for tea. I had seen their tea shops in a few places so this did interest me. I've been buying lotion and soaps from their stores for a long time.

The view from my seat.

Sunny and colorful decor in their shop colors. The restaurant did look nice and service was good, but it was very noisy. Not really a place to collect one's thoughts.

While waiting to see how my food would be, I indulged in a little pot of coffee. Sometimes I don't have tea for tea.

My strawberry tiramisu arrived. This is why I went with coffee. Which was a good choice for this dessert.

This was a nice tiramisu. The berries were fresh and nicely complimented the soft cake and espresso topping. It is amusing to look back at this and realize this would not be the only time I would have tiramisu this trip. 

Back outside, the sky wasn't looking much better. Even so, with that coffee in my system, it was time for a walk.

NERV

Just before leaving on my trip, I found this strange rumor on the internet, that NERV had relocated their headquarters to Ikebukuro. So on a cloudy hot day I set out to see if this was true.

My first discovery was more owls. At least it wasn't Angels.

Following the limited directions, I found myself on Sunshine 60 Dori, A place with a mix of stores, popular with young adults for the clothing, anime, manga and gaming, interesting places to eat, and more. This was good for me since my plans for the day were to shop at Tokyu Hands, Tomads and Uniqlo, and whatever else that was interesting.

As for food, that would be determined by what I found. I reached the rumored location of NERV, at 46 Shokudo.

Pretending to be an izakaya, I decided this was the right place.

Especially with Commander Gendo Ikari glaring down from the doorway.

I had arrived during Angel Hour, shito, which was code for a small drink discount from 2:10 pm to 4:00. Which explained why there were not many people in here. But it was perfect for me since I had not eaten lunch. Actually, for most of my trip I didn't eat lunch but instead later had tea with something nice. The choices of life.

However this place didn't look much like NERV Headquarters. Along with the fact that it was above ground and not below. But the images of Misato Katsuragi and the obvious NERV logo suggested somehow it was connected.

Ah, Angel Hour. I decided to take advantage of that.

While I waited for my order, video played on various monitors. Were we under attack again by Angels, or Shito 使徒?

Seems Shinji is a little worried about having to pilot his Eva. 

My drink arrives. I decided to go with wine since the other drinks had a bit of sugar in them. The Mark.06, as blue as it was.

Along with some aqua colored potato salad.

While there were a lot of really creative dishes on the menu, I went with basic salmon with french fries. Although there was something suspicious in the tarter sauce.

More of them? 3rd Angels pretending to be shumai dumplings?

Well, they tried to invade my table but I ate them all. They were good. This was a nice lunch in a fun atmosphere.

I don't buy much in anime goods these days, but they had Misato's necklace. It's pretty nice too.

I realize I could have put a warning at the top of this post that it contains references to the anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it probably is obvious. And if anyone is interested in going to the Evangelion Bar, it is located at Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-29-4, Narita Building 4th floor. This is good till September 1st, when the bar transforms into something else.

Manmaru Ikebukuro Unagi Deuxième Visit

Just having a little fun with the French there. One of the things I was really looking forward to this trip was returning to Manmaru Ikebukuro Unagi. Which was a perfect way to wrap up my third day in Tokyo. 

Like my first visit there, I asked for whatever sake they recommended. The selected sake was this limited summer slightly effervescent sake. I'm not very good with handwritten stylized kanji, so I don't know the brand.

Cute little colorful yokai on the label. 

I love the part where they pour the sake into the glass and it overflows into the saucer. I really need a cup and saucer set like this. 

This was a great choice for this hot day. 

After sipping on my sake for a little time, my dinner arrived. 

Steaming smoky unagi don with miso soup and tsukemono pickles. One of the challenges in this place is it is a little smoky from the grills in the kitchen. So I still don't have a clear photo of the unagi. Guess I need to go back and try again? 

Something to add a little more to the dish, sansho pepper. 

Yes I did and I don't know if I don't put enough but it really doesn't taste hot to me. It smells good, so I like using it. As for the unagi, it was just as good as the first time I ate it. 

I decided to try something different. Since I wasn't driving and I didn't have far to walk. 

When in Japan...thought I would try a chilled glass of umeshu. 

This glass of sweetness was just right. I don't usually drink like this but I felt a little bit like enjoying my time there. 

Outside on the streets of Ikebukuro the sun was setting. 

I decided to walk a little as the night took over. 

It's always fun to find little spots like this amid the lighted signs and concrete. Maybe a place to check out next time? Ikebukuro does have interesting places to eat at.