Tokyo! How I missed you… it had been over a year since my last trip to Japan, and I was excited to get back!

We booked tickets 2-weeks before the meetings, and due to the cherry blossom season, literally all of the hotels central and western Tokyo were full. Thus, we stayed by the supplier, in healthful Tachikawa!

This turned out to be pretty convenient, as it eliminated our standard 37-minute commute from Shinjuku. Thus, I could sleep in each day, and I spent each morning at the train station for breakfast! #onigiri #frenchpastries #japanesedrinks

So when we arrived, the cherry blossom blooms had ended 🙁
…but the weather was still pretty spectacular for springtime in Japan!

The main street in Tachikawa, and my fav store in the background…

On the second day, our meetings ended a bit early, so I got to venture out to explore this ‘burb

A co-worker ventured out to a shopping mall that was one train stop away from our hotel. We found a nice housewares store, and I got some noodle bowls.

On the way back, we were greeted with a lovely sunset from the station’s platform

^Fuji-san sighting!

For dinner, we wandered into a random alley, and found a yakiniku place. They warned that they only had Japanese-language menus, so we used the Google Translate app, and we tried our best while ordering. I think we did A-OK…

^mmmmm, wagyuuuuu

On the way back to the hotel, we wandered into REBEL TERRITORY! at least by Tokyo standards…

On the last day of meetings, our supplier took us out to a nice sushi dinner. It was nice working with the team again!!!

I didn’t plan for any personal time this trip; as I needed to get back to Seattle, so I checked out of the hotel on Saturday, and met up with Aaron in Shibuya. We grabbed lunch from a department store, and tried to win some UFO games. For the FIRST TIME EVER… we didn’t win anything! We begrudgingly ventured off to Kappabashi as I wanted a knife.

What is Kappabashi? well, it’s the shopping arcade you go to when you want any sort of kitchen or restaurant supplies. They have everything! bowls, chopsticks, spoons, takoyaki makers, fish shaped molds, tempura fryers, artsy and Japanese-y tapestries, chairs, Americana memorabilia for your late night diner, and well of course, knives! I bought a 210mm gyuto from Tsubaya!

That’s it for now… I should be back in Tokyo later in the year.