2025-11-19

My poor ear finally decided it was healed up enough for me to a) get a good night’s sleep, and b) be out and about for an extended day without a major, persistent headache or gross leakage. Huzzah!

Shinjuku

In the morning we toured the Shinjuku Gyoen gardens and Meiji Shrine, both of which were in walking distance. We kept the kids on-side with regular bribes of pastries, vending machine drinks, and the promise of toy shopping and sushi for lunch.

I also got a chance to set off on my own to check out some of the used camera shops just to the west of Shinjku Station. PetaPixel has a really solid guide to smaller shops and I found an excellent deal on a micro-4/3 prime at Five Star due to some very small scratches on the focus ring. The staff were friendly, and obviously huge camera nerds themselves; we ended up talking about gear and personal history with photography as much as we did their current inventory. :)

Harajuku

I don’t generally go for high-end fashion or housewares, so while Harajuku was very impressive to walk around it wasn’t really my kind of shopping. We found Pokemon and kaiten sushi for the kids, though, so it was a relatively successful foray.

Nakano

In a half-dozen visits to Tokyo I don’t think I’ve actually spent much if any time in Nakano.

Someone described it to me as Akihabara, but chill, and I think that’s not too far off. It also reminded me a bit of Shanghai, and some of the other “old town” districts I’ve visited in Europe: built before cars were a thing, with a mix of high-end and ever-so-slightly seedy establishments.

We went through the Nakano Broadway shopping arcade, then found ecellent bao and yakitori in the narrow side streets.