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Last Saturday, we went to check out the Art Aquarium located in the Ginza Mitsukoshi

Apparently it has been around since 2021.

for 90 days they display goldfish in different types of aquariums.

I think they do this in hopes of helping people take their minds off of the heat of summer at least for a little while.

That morning, we booked ourselves tickets for 10:30…2500 yen each

Just show your QR code and then enjoy!

Make sure you turn off your flash, not everyone understood this rule…poor fish!

Lunch was at a western style restaurant, Rengatei, that had been in business since 1895, they apparently created pork cutlet, serving cabbage alongside the cutlet and many other western style dishes that Japanese still love today 

Satoshi ordered their pork cutlet while I ordered their katsu sandwich

The pork was super thick and juicy, would definitely like to try other items on their menu.

Afterwards we headed to a cafe to get something sweet, our first choice was a bust especially since the waiter decided to squish Kat in between of their revolving door, while telling us it was a 30 minute to 1 hour wait for a table and DID NOT APOLOGIZE for squishing her...ahem!

So instead, we went to wait for a table at Nakamura Tokichi inside of Ginza 6.

I've visited the main shop in Uji, Kyoto in the past

Satoshi decided to have lunch number 2...I think this was noodles made from tea?!

Kat had their shaved ice...this had kudzu mochi on the bottom and matcha ice cream in the middle

It was blazing and humid, but we were happy to be able to experience the Art Aquarium in peace.

We saw the line to get in to the aquarium after lunch and it was krazy!

Art Aquarium

inside Ginza Mitsukoshi

*buy your tickets online to get a small discount

Rengatei

3-5-16 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:00-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-21:00 (dinner)

*cash only

Nakamura Tokichi

inside Ginza 6, 4F

Open when Ginza 6 is

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Went to the Shirokanedai area yesterday.

The last time I was in this area was two years ago.

Love the reflection on the side of the building.
 

Wanted to try some chocolates from Cacaocat, a chocolate company from Hokkaido

Crossing Gaien Nishi Avenue

(Photos uploaded wonky) I bought some chocolates by weight, 703 yen (tax included) for 6 pieces.

Love that they gave me a "chocolate map" so that I would know what flavors I chose.

They gave me one piece free...whoo!

Been wanting to check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien (Garden) Art Museum.

This is the former residence of Prince Asaka.

I wasn't interested in seeing the art being displayed, so I only paid to enter the garden...200 yen (adults)

Huge red pine

Japanese garden and tea house called Koka

Beautiful reflection

Huge ginkgo tree

Huge kaki (persimmon) tree

"Wind" by Kan Yasuda

It was a beautiful day.

Grabbed some items for lunch from Himmel.

Baked curry pan

and Kouign Amann

It was nice to be out and about.

Afterwards, I realized I missed seeing a few things around the garden, so I'll try to go back during the Spring, when more flowers should be blooming too.

Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum

5-21-9 Shirokanedai

Minato, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

Cacaocat

5-18-8 Shirokanedai

Minato, Tokyo

Hours: 9:00-19:30

fuchu city local forest museum

On the way back from Yaho, I noticed another ume festival sign from the train...

when I looked online, I found out that Fuchu City Local Forest Museum, which is labeled as an arboretum on Google maps, has a baien (plum garden) and they were having an ume festival.

So, I went to check it out...

From the JR Fuchuhonmachi station....walk past Suntory Brewery

And the Daitokyo Sogo wholesale market...

wouldn’t mind coming back to check out this market

There was a tiny park with many cherry trees.

And then you need to buy an admission ticket...300 yen 

If I'm not mistaken, they only take cash.

There is also a planetarium, on the grounds, but the admission is separate and costs 600 yen.

There are some restored buildings on the property.

One was being used as a cafe.

60 plum varieties and 1000 plum trees...wow!

The plum blossom season was nearing the end, glad I was able to experience this.

Brought a musubi to tide me over...there were benches all over the place...to sit, to chat, to just hang out.

They have a little area with robai (waxy apricot) also called wintersweet/Japanese allspice.

Since it was March, I thought I missed this but there were still some flowers on the trees.

There is also an area for hydrangea though not as extensive as the plum...we might be back.

Lots of people out and about.

They also have ume trees lit up at night, which must be beautiful to see.

To get back home, I walked to the JR Bubaigawara station, because I've been curious of this statue, that you can see from the train...Samurai Yoshisada Nitta.

Sweets from Aokiya, which has been in business since 1893.

We tried these manju and mochi...delicious.

Another area of Tokyo explored.

The days are getting longer and warmer, I think some areas are May or June temps!

Fuchu city local forest museum

6-35 Koremasa

Fuchu City, Tokyo

Closed Mondays

Hours: 9:00-17:00

Aokiya

3-22-26 Katamachi

Bubaigawara Minano 1F

Fuchu City, Tokyo

Open daily 9:30-19:00

p.s. if you are interested in seeing more photos/videos, look here

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Saturday the weather was nice (plus we wanted to get away from the reno noise) so we got out and about and went to check out the Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei.

From our house it is about an hour and a half by different trains and a bus.

I’m pretty sure it was my first time ever to see the Yamanote line this empty.

Since the Edo period, many historical buildings in Tokyo have been lost to natural and man-made disasters (war). 

In 1993 the open air museum was established on 7 hectares (17 acres) to preserve and exhibit many historical buildings.

All the buildings were donated by many families and it is a nice way to see how life was "back in the day".

The entrance fee is 400 yen for adults, but luckily on this day it was free.

We weren't too sure why it was free, but think it was because they were holding a large tea ceremony event at various homes so we weren't allowed to go freely inside many of them.

One of the first things we did was have coffee at Musashi Sabo inside of the Georg de Lalande home.

800 something for each of our parfaits plus 500 something for each of our coffees...3000 something total...kinda pricey. 

But the parfaits were delicious and it was nice to just sit and have coffee outside of our apartment.

It was also nice that you didn’t need to take off your shoes in this home.

Why I say that is to see inside most of the homes, you had to remove your shoes, so I walked around the homes instead since my converse shoes are a p.i.t.a. to put on and take off.

Lunch was beef curry from Takahashi Shoten's kitchen car (lunch wagon)...500 yen (tax included)

Outside of the museum, was this huge ceramic fair...definitely no social distancing...

We also ran into packed trains on the way home.

I am glad we got to check out this museum, I am also interested in coming back in the Spring to Koganei Park because they have lots of cherry trees.

More photos if you are interested here.

Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

3-7-1 Sakuracho

Koganei Tokyo

Phone: 042.388.3300

Closed Mondays

Hours: 9:30-16:30

ryushi memorial hall

About 30 minutes walking from where we live is the Ryushi Memorial Hall.

Artist Kawabata Ryushi, donated his artwork and house to the Ota Ward after he passed away.

The admission is 200 yen for adults and once you get past the snarky guy at the front desk, you can enjoy the different art pieces that they have on display.

The pieces change during the year depending on what they choose to display.

There were several pieces that I enjoyed but we weren’t allowed to take photos of the artwork.

One was what looked like clouds but were kannon (peace deities). ..if I find it online, I’ll post it here.

Across the street from the hall is where Ryushi Kawabata lived.

You can walk around the property.

It was beautiful.

I'm glad we got to check out this "museum" and learn about Ryushi Kawabata.

Ryushi Memorial Hall

4-2-1 Chuo

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 050.5541.8600

Closed Mondays

Hours: 9:00-16:30

Admission: 200 yen (adults up to 65 years old), 100 yen (children 6 and over), free 65 year old and children under 6

(photo from Ryushi Memorial site)  p.s. I found the painting online.  It is called "hanatsumikumo" (Flower picking clouds).

If you click on it, I hope you can see the details.