Photographs from a small group of islands
Tokyo undoubtedly has an enormous amount of fancy, and even fancier priced, eateries; a situation not lost on Michelin, as it has been very liberally sprinkling the city with its money-filled stars over the last few years.
But despite this rich bounty, the capital still has a much larger number of places with splendidly basic surroundings.
As well as similarly unsophisticated sustenance.
And, for me at least, it’s far better for it.
This particular traditional tofu shop may not possess ghostly apparitions in its window panes like some do, but despite only dealing with bean curd and not silently screaming demons, a break now and again is still definitely called for.
Due to its complicated mass of overhead cables, cluttered confusion and seemingly carefree approach to building controls, Tokyo certainly isn’t one of the world’s prettiest cities.
But sometimes, somehow, all of these factors come together to create fabulously photogenic thoroughfares. Features that, when frequented by equally photogenic old fellas, are even more fantastic.
Far from the brief fad it seemed destined to be, the maid cafe business surprisingly keeps battling on, with spin-offs from the original theme, such as vampire varieties, amazingly keeping the customers coming back.
But with so many cafes in operation, competition is understandably intense, and as such, it’s fair to say that flyer distributing maids are now as common on Akihabara’s corners as gadgetry. Or even camera carrying geeks.
Touchscreen phones and tablets are all well and good, but none of them can hold a torch to this mammoth, ahem, iCatching vending machine.
And even if it can’t be used to play Angry Birds or tap out a tweet, the dispensing of beverages, although admittedly adding a bit of bulk, could be just what’s needed to make the next iPad truly ‘magical’.
