We returned to Tokyo to yet another bout of incredible weather: 62F and wildly blue skies. Our hotel for this last leg was in Akasaka, which is a neighborhood we haven’t really explored before.
This hotel had a similar issue to many of the places we stayed which I don’t recall dealing with on previous trips: feather down bedding. I’m fairly allergic to feather fill, and if I try to sleep overnight on pillows or under comforters insulated with it I end up congested and fairly miserable. I’m used to requesting hypoallergenic bedding when traveling in the US, but hadn’t expected it to be a recurring issue in Japan. Something to remember next time, I suppose.
There also turned out to be a food mall underneath an office building1 just down the street, which gave us an easy option for dinner and groceries. We feasted on broiled eel, bought a huge supply of interesting snacks, and retired to our hotel to watch the weirdest children’s TV we could find. As usual, NHK did not disappoint on that front.
Footnotes
Section titled “Footnotes”-
This mall also hosts the permanent Harry Potter theater, which prompted an extended conversation with the kids about how to grapple with art you love made by people with abhorrent views and behaviors. JK Rowling, Orson Scott Card, and (sadly) Neil Gaiman all featured heavily. ↩