Night Time Ikebukuro in March

After my long stroll through the sakura, I made it back to my hotel room where I enjoyed a treat.

A green tea parfait. On top was mochi, adzuki bean koshi-an, green tea and sakura whip. Along with a salt preserved sakura flower.

Underneath was sakura and green tea mousse and green tea jelly. 

I wasn't done for the day though. I wanted to try to shop a little. So I headed out. One thing I was trying to do is get photos of some of the Chinese shops and restaurants in Ikebukuro. Since these places are what makes up the local Chinatown in Ikebukuro.

Once again I was circling around the busier areas. This time I went south of Ikebukuro Station over to the east side. Going by streets with many restaurants and bars open, there were still a number of people out. Something that doesn't get mentioned about Tokyo is that a lot of people live in places with tiny or no kitchens. Eating out isn't just for pleasure, but for many it's needed. It's also why people go to markets and combini almost every day. It's difficult to store a lot of food for many people in Tokyo.

It was March 25th and Sunshine Dori still had a lot of people there. Even more over on Sunshine 60 Dori. I had taken side streets to get to Uniqlo. I figured there would be less people in that store than the one in Tobu Ikebukuro Station. I was right. This Uniqlo attracts tourists and there were very few still in the area. I like to go to the Sunshine 60 store when I want to see what they have available. I was able to get a couple of tops, a jacket, casual pants and one other item. I find the clean lines and styles there fit more with what I like compared to what I find at US stores. And of course I also can find them in the colors that I like. So I couldn't leave Japan without stopping in for a few fashion items.

Heading back to my hotel I found...sakura.

While there were a few people out, the images of the shut down entertainment theaters like the Toshima Civic Center were sobering.

A lot of entertainment performers and the people that support them had been out of work for almost a month and with no idea when it will be okay to have live performances. I really hope that Japan will find a way to support them.

While not quite the image of Rikugien's lighted sakura, it was still nice to have a little night time sakura viewing.

I know a couple friends are into Bungou Stray Dogs so I had to take a photo of the poster for the live stage show. I was curious how well they could show the various super powers. Unfortunately, no way to see the show in person.

A night time view of the west side of Ikebukuro that many don't see.

Ikebukuro Chop was still open that night. I hope the live houses will be able to return. They are the backbone of Japan's music scene, where many bands start out, and many continue to be able to perform.

And back to my hotel for my conbini dinner. Cold soba noodles. Not bad. Every time I am reminded that I want to go find really traditional soba restaurants, the good places throughout Japan. One day, I hope I can.

As for that other item I found at Uniqlo, it was this. Not the usual Uniqlo fashion but I really was happy. This fashion was displayed as being worn over other clothing, which is exactly what I have been looking for.

It's actually a nice sheer dark blue negligee that came with a slip short nightgown. Definitely something I will wear.

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.

Ikebukuro at Night Again

This was my third time staying in Ikebukuro. Each time I explore a little more. Ikebukuro really becomes alive at night.

There is still a lot that I have not seen on the east side. But I did check out a few more places. Back to Sunshine 60-dori area, which really seems to be where more young people spend time at night now.

With all the people around, street busking must do well. It was enjoyable to hear this man play. There was another young enthusiastic man who had set up playing his guitar and singing. It was interesting to see the faces of the young women watching him. I would not be surprised if one day he becomes well known.

The dining streets in that area. I walked through here last time. I do need to figure out where I would like to eat there. It is an interesting place.

Try finding decent sushi at this price here in the US.

There are other statues around Ikebukuro Station besides owls. One can't miss this calisthenic couple in the middle of Meiji-dori. 

It is also impossible to miss SEIBU Department Store. It runs along one side of Ikebukuro Station, along with the PARCO Department Store.

The reason I didn't stop at a restaurant there was because my goal was shopping. I finally made it to Closet Child. The Ikebukuro store has clothing along with a music section. I picked up this little CD for a few yen. That was nice.

This time I visited the kitchen floor of Tokyu Hands. Besides music being a theme of my trip, these ring molds I bought so I can make Japanese pancakes were a sign of what was to come.

On my way back to my hotel, I wandered into SEIBU's lower level. Many larger Japanese department stores dedicate their lower levels to food vendors. The term used is "Food Hall", but many are much nicer than just a hall. Glass counters with sales people often offering samples of delicacies from all over Japan. And in SEIBU, there is also a KitKat Chocolatory booth.

I've tried a number of Japanese KitKats over the years. The ones that got my attention this time were ones that the focus was on the cacao used to make the chocolate. I do like sweet and bitter, so the Sublime was perfect for that. The one above it is Sublime Raw. They cook the chocolate at a lower temperature to bring out more of the cacao beans natural flavor. It was also very nice, with a slight "green" taste.

I found the Hojicha-Roasted Tea KitKats at a konbini. This was more like their flavored KitKats. It wasn't too bad, and did have a slight bitter flavor to represent the tea.

My other purchase at the Chocolatory was a box of their Sublime Volcanic KitKats.

KitKat uses chocolate from South Pacific tropical islands. Yellow is cacao from Papua New Guinea, orange is from the Philippines, and green is from Vanuatu. For people who like good chocolate, these are worth trying. There were differences between the three. I had not planned to buy KitKats on this trip, but I'm glad I did get these and the Sublime chocolates.

But the best thing that I found in SEIBU was something I had hoped to enjoy. When I walked in, I saw a line. Lines are a thing in Japan, don't be surprised if you want to get something or go into a restaurant and there is a line for waiting. This time, it was for these, Tokyo Tulip Rose.

They are the creation of Chef Masahito Kanai, who studied in Paris and brought his pastry skills back to Japan. He has a number of different delicacies, but most were sold out. Lucky for me, they still had their little Tulip Roses.

The Tulip Roses are made of delicate cookies filled with a creamy center. The amount of flavor in each one is astounding. The pink ones are strawberry and raspberry for a sweet and sour burst of flavor. It surprised me and I really liked this one.

The yellow Tulip Roses are passion fruit and mango. Again with the delicious flavor. The third Tulip Rose is caramel and nuts and they did taste just like that. I enjoyed these so much that I wanted to get more. Sadly I didn't. I hope I can enjoy them again one day.