Ebisu, god of the fishermen.
If you've been following our steps for a while know it wasn't easy to find a place to live in Tokyo.
We started in Aoyama - damn so young, happy and optimistic about the future... But i couldn't read a word of Japanese yet - and had a background of other expat acquaintances living Kamiyacho or Shinagawa. But we kept searching for an apartment we liked aesthetically which was well connected to both Shimbashi (where I worked) and Yokohama (where Enrique worked). I clearly remember the day we visited Park Axis Daikanyama - just like with our apartment in Söder or my home now in Bangkok - I knew it was our place to be. Time went buy and every day, we grew more fond of the choice.
For you as visitor in Tokyo, it may not be so easy to find a hotel around Ebisu station (unless you can afford Westin) but if you do, man that's the perfect base to explore the city, connected to JR Yamanote, Hibiya metro line and various JR lines going North-South, making it easy to reach Kamakura or Odaiba. Walking distance from Shibuya, with a vibrant-yet-local restaurant scene to explore. This is the place to be.
The post today is a nostalgia walk, for all those who came visit us and an exciting portrait of what the beginning of this route can provide for the newcomers in town! You can also check out some more additional information on the dining scene of Nakameguro (also very close from Ebisu West exit) and how pretty it turns during hanami season (cherry blossom watching) which is superb here.
Take Ebisu West exit and follow the street with steel flowers
This little guy makes the funniest advertising ever (point-o gobai!) used to work at Peacock Supermarket but this time we met him in Cocokara, the cosmetics store right in front - fichaje!
This is me buying mascara for a friend who's still addicted to Kiss Me Heroine make-up
Continue walking uphill and pass by the best burger place in town.
Arrive to our former home!
Do you guys remember? All the pictures we took here of me, with friends, after shopping or picking up parcels... Huge nostalgia coming in here together for the first time.
The little store keeps changing owner, but I am afraid they continue to struggle to survive in this pretty but not so transited lane.
Do you remember that noisy railway behind home? Is now underground, with all the cool brunch spots of Daikanyama log road built on top.
Now it's a lovely promenade with shops, cafés, trees and benches to hang out.
But the street behind remains untouched, with that local-secret charm.
We continued the way towards Daikanyama T-site, finding some interesting Tupac art.
I wanted to buy this one, but it wasn't on sale...
Daikanyama has that artsy-upscale-hipster feeling I love. And odd pets, a lot of them.
The stores are more of small boutiques than humongous glass buildings (as found in Ginza or Roppongi), the hood delivers on the beauty of the unexpected.
So happy and so not fotogenic, at the same time.
We bought one of these mini-sake barrels as souvenir in one of the temporary shops installed in Daikanyama T-Site. The one on the right. I carried it the whole day, but it was well worth it! It comes with some magnets at the cover, so we now can do our sake barrel opening whenever we want.
Tsutaya bookstore in Daikanyama T-Site is one of the coolest ever - these magazines about pets...
Changing the direction towards Shibuya, you'll pass by Junie Moon aka the Blythe Center for you, nerd collector of 70s dolls - like me.
The lady in the background - why this alternative route is so worth it, won't find this people in the main street!
Trains passing by... The sound of trains passing by... The wind they create. Such a recurrent topic in anime, such a recurrent yet subtle element of Japanese life you won't realise till you're gone for good.
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