As any Lost in translation fan knows, Tokyo has its fair share of rainy days. Be it tsuyu (the rainy season), a weaker typhoon or common rain, here’s a list of places well suited for wet days…
(here’s a video with piano music 渋谷雨の日)
Visit some art venues around Roppongi
For some outdoor art, Roppongi is a a good place to start (if you don’t mind getting a little wet)….
In front of Roppongi Hills West Walk (towards Zara) there’s a mega spider sculpture with the title ‘Mother’ – I don’t know if the interpretation should be more Freudian or more Darwinistic, but her womb is see-through to show she’s carrying eggs. I walk by this area often and it’s surprising how you don’t get tired of it. Rain looks flattering on mama spider. Facing it, there is a huge Takashi Murakami flower sculpture – pop and gigantic, totally suited for Tokyo.
For some indoor art there are two amazing exhibits still showing at Tokyo Midtown: one located in its B1 focusing on Hokusai’s manga and one at the Suntory Museum of art showing unusual subjects in Japanese art. Manga here has its original meaning of drawings and it exhibits Hokusai’s guide on how to make anything come to life, from sumo wrestlers to rabbits. The drawings are insanely expressive and I like how they’ve included some multimedia to make the experience more contemporary. Go also to catch a glimpse of the Japanese public admiring their unrivalled master. The Suntory Museum on the top floor has some selected pieces and it’s a chance to learn something new about Japanese painting (i.e. night scenes are not painted dark in traditional Japanese paintings, but by details strategically placed like a lit candle you can figure the time of the day out). Also, the museum cafe has some exceptional wagashi (Japanese sweets) and a twist on French toast that is really delicious.
Digital art + sauna
Before moving to Tokyo I thought.. this was gonna be super tech and super modern – – instead more often than not I find myself living in an 80’s – 90’s nostalgia, where documents are faxed and Mario Bros is still on top of the game. To contrast this narrative, visit any of the art installations by teamLab: they’re fresh, immersive and feel supernatural. You really need to go and see (and feel, touch and smell) them yourself. I feel borderless is the most impressive one, but planets incorporates water to its displays, which is a good blend between natural and digital – they also feature amazing installations featuring flowers – there’s a planetarium where you can just lay on a mirrored floor and have a storm of digital petals feel like they’re falling on you. Some installations will make you feel like the ground and the walls around you are moving. You might pose yourself some existential questions while looking at the digital carps having a swim and while a few of these displays are really just made for instagram, most of them will make something come alive in you. I cannot recommend enough their last venue in Roppongi, which features eight different saunas (we tried seven), each with its own very specific characteristics (the green sauna smells amazing, really a chance to reconnect with your sense of smell) and three artworks (one of which is very simple, but very captivating). Pictures are not allowed inside the saunas but it’s hard to resist … this has been my favorite experience of the season. Just next to it, still in Roppongi, this very pretty izakaya has great yakitori and amazing sashimi!
The sauna project
Speaking of saunas .. Few things make a sento more enjoyable than the rain! Saunas are also having a moment in Tokyo. Recently renovated Kairo-yu in Ebisu has a tiny yet terrific sauna – so hot! (right next to it, there is a laundry room with really cool graffiti). Easy to spot because of the whale graffiti on the same block. Newly opened Saunalab in Kanda, right by Jimbocho station, has 3 different kind of saunas, including an ice sauna (!!!). I loved it and made both me and my skin feel and look ten times better. I really recommend this place! The ice sauna is individual and an experience by itself, I was surprised by how well it recreates the sensation of winter (I suggest to wear a bathrobe while inside, they also provide a hat!). There’s also a Finnish sauna where you can lay down on a tatami (shavasana style if you want). The shop is fantastic and has anything you might need related to sentos. (I’ll make a separate post with a full list of sentos in Tokyo, but I think these two go well with the rain).
Visit some famous venues uncrowded
The ROASTERY in Nakameguro is famous for its views over the cherry blossoms, but it’s worth a visit any other day. The building itself is impressive and feels so much more relaxed with few people in it – food and drinks are excellent too (it feautures Italian pizza and pastry, as well as Japanese tea, so Starbucks feels just like a cover up). It opens as early as 7am!
Gompachi in Nishi Azabu is known for a Quentin Tarantino sequence where Uma Thurman kills 88 warriors – I feel the place looks pretty much like the movie. The food was way better than what I had assumed!! Especially the taro salad – for drinks stick to sake/beer. I loved the setting and the drum show – it’s touristy but also kind of nice ! I really recommend to come here while in Tokyo. I was gonna link the sequence but it’s quite violent – can be easily found on youtube under ‘Kill Bill Vol.1 Black Mamba vs Gogo Yubari’ to watch the best part.
Go to the mall
I tend to deteste malls in general, but honestly in Tokyo you can spend hours just looking at the different styles and unusual items for Western eyes. When I first moved here I liked nothing of the wearables, but now that I got used to the style I’m captivated by it. Equally interesting are the shoppers! If you’re a bit more used to Japanese overuse of neon lights and ribbons you might be ready to go to Shibuya109 and Harajuku LaForet – if you skip all the chiffons they both feature cool pop up stores and some Japanese girl fashion. In both cases the area around it is filled with other shops. This one in Omotesando feels more like an art space (there is a gallery and most shops are high end or have temporary exhibits); it also never hurts to be close to Cat street and its trillion good coffee shops. Inside this nice upscale mall in Shibuya you can make your own Kit Kat’s.
Some Netflix suggestions:
I remember watching Sailor Moon as a kid and finding it so entertaining – more than anything the fact that the mastermind of it all is a cat! I feel it has aged relatively well and if you’re studying Japanese you’ll catch some phrases (being girls, it’s mostly polite-school suitable Japanese phrases). Also, for being set in the 90s this has some pretty strong feminist statements and loads of positivity (incidentally, the writer is a now very rich woman). This has English subs, but for everything else you can use the language learning extension available for Chrome users (it adds subtitles to anything). Cinemas still exist, they just had to close early, the movie ‘Belle’ still showing is absolutely beautiful and graphics are amazing (great soundtrack here). It’s so good you don’t even need subs to enjoy it.
