It's a pretty cool kitchen & bar close to Meguro, with a unique design and surprisingly surprising food - have you ever tried a cabbage ceasar salad ? Interesting... But the main interest is definitely the decoration. Well done Mr. Yusaku Kaneshiro...

Summer happens only once in the year! Tokyo has no beach, but you just need to take a train and you're set.

Two-hours ride from Tokyo by local train : Atami Beach

Not the best beach landscape ever, but there are wonderful fireworks at night on the waterfront ! Easy access from Shinjuku by Odakyu-line util Odawara, then Tokaido-line to Atami.

(credit photo: C. Mathon)

Bientôt nouveau logie, nouvelle vie !

C'est le moment de me séparer de quelques meubles:

- Sofa-bed (Sofa: 170 cm large x 75 cm deep x 85 cm high / Side bench: 100 cm large x 50 cm deep)

- Table basse (120 cm long x 60 cm large)

- Four / micro-ondes / gril (48cm large x 27cm high x 43cm deep)

- Frigo-freezer (110cm high x 48cm large x 43 cm deep)

Aoyama, the blue mountain in the heart of Tokyo. Shinjuku's skyscrappers shining on the horizon. A very high building with a balcony. And the first hanabi of the season for me.

Watching hanabi ("flowers of fire" in Japanese) is a major summer must-do in Japan, just as hanami in spring. Everybody wants to watch the same thing at the same time from the same places. Lucky me I have friends who have friends with amazing terrace apartments.

It starts with an empty sky...

Then, it gets red

green

white

pink

purple

golden

I feel like it's Christmas : I got free tickets to "Nihon no Omokage" (日本の面影, Vestige of Japan, translated as "Out of the East" in English), an amazing play written by Taichi Yamada about the life of Koizumi Yakumo, aka Lafcadio Hearn, my hero, my idole ! Remember how excited I was to visit Lafcadio's square in Shin-Okubo this winter ? Just imagine me tonight !

The play was absolutely fantastic, with great actors (Masao Kusakari and Misako Konno playing Hearn and his Japanese wife), the most beautiful backgrounds, sounds, lights... and English subtitles, for me not to lose one drop of the action ! It was humoristic, poetic, nostalgic, mixing Lafcadio's bio and glimpses of the Japanese folk tales he made so famous. Ghosts stories, Meiji atmosphere, very moving comments about the fast-paced transformation of Japan at the end of XIXth Century, the necessity for the country to get stronger on the international scene to avoid being colonized, and at the same time to protect its soul and spirit... Very convincing psychologic portrait of Hearn, traumatized by his familial story, the misery of his Greek mother in industrial, over-rational UK; his parents who ran away from him, letting him craving for roots, a family, somewhere and someone to belong with... Oh, my. Every second of this play was precious !

The play will be performed from 12 to 25 July 2012, at Haiyuza Gekijo, Roppongi (English subs on 18, 19, 20) at 7pm. Entry 7000yen, but honestly, it's worth it (says the one who was invited, but anyway).

Lafcadio, dear, as soon as I die, you're on my top list of the paradise's tenants I need to meet. So many things to tell you !

Red and White Tokyo Tower is still standing as the capital's main focal point, no matter what brand-new Sky Tree can do ! From Shibakoen, with love.

A sunny Saturday, finally ! I jumped on the Chuo-line (from Shinjuku station, 45 minutes by express train to Takaosanguchi station) and had the best walk ever to the top of Takaosan !

To reach the trail, I just had to sit in a nice "lift" chair and fly above the trees ! Soooo great and relaxing !

Takao-san nature : green, sculptural roots, and amazing flowers that even don't look real...

Pont suspenduuuu

Takao Top !

And on the way back...

I feel rejuvenated ! Go and have a walk before the rainy season...

Kuromitsu & macha ice-cream... French crepe !!

Restaurant Le Bretagne - Kagurazaka

Last Monday, I went to see a sumo fight for the first time at Ryogoku. As many Westerners, I had always been a bit disturbed by the aesthetics of this wrestling sport - naked, huge bodies and inscrutable faces. But it was the perfect opportunity to try to understand more about it, and so I did.

A rikishi (wrestler - in Japanese, "professional of strengh") on the ring... The clash is coming !

First, the place : Ryogoku Kokugikan, in the Eastern area of Tokyo. At the entrance, colourful banners welcome the visitors. Inside, the atmosphere is lively - people drink and eat, shout the name of their favorite rikishi and loudly comment the fights.

The dohyo (figting ring)

The dohyo iri (wrestlers presentation)

Even the cleaning of the dohyo looks like a choregraphy

For your information, us women are not allowed to walk on the dohyo, even when nobody's around. And even nowadays. We are such impure creatures. Jeeeeez.

Sumo champion showing-off

The gyoji (referee)

The rikishi throw salt on the ring before fighting, to purify it.

This world-wide famous gesture is for chasing away the bad spirits

Fists on the ground to accept the fight

The tachi-ai (clash) - trust me, they are surprisingly fast !!

The sumo fight is all about make you opponent walk/touch/fly the area outside the ring. This is why the wrestlers have to be so heavy. Still, there is no weight categories like in boxing, so the two rekishi's weight can be 100 kilos different ! Ouch, my spinal column... They say that 150 kilos may be the best for a wrestler : heavy enough not to fly too much, but offering a minimum of flexibility.

The rikishi have to follow a very strict physical discipline to maintain their body in the right shape - a bit like classical dancers in Europe. They wake up at 5am, train themselves all day long and eat carefully - mostly boiled vegetable and meat (nabe). Being a sumo fighter requires a permanent body and mind controle. 

This rikishi is Bulgarian-born. More and more foreigners (especially Mongols) try to make a career in sumo, so the Japanese Sumo Association had to restrain the number of non-Japanese to one new member per year. Not so bad. Among the Japanese, the number of candidates is decreasing. A rikishi life doesn't make people dream anymore...

What do the sumo rikishi fight for ? To please the gods. For sun, for rain, for harvest and for long life.

Thank you for your heavy prayers, guys !