Lunch at Sushi no Midori, Umegaoka
by joostay
High-end sushi without the high-end price tag
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, sushi, tokyo, travel, travel writer
Tag: design
TOKYO CITY VIEW
by joostay
Last weekend I was out at the Mori Art Museum reviewing the new NS Harsha retrospective for Tokyo Art Beat. I’ll hopefully get that article written and published later next week. I’ve always been a big fan of the Mori: it’s a space that never fails to enhance the exhibitions it hosts, not any easy task considering its size. What also makes the Mori special is that admission to the museum also grants you entrance to Tokyo City View on the 52nd floor. Offering 360-degree […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: art, city, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, megacity, mori art museum, NS Harsha, photography, tokyo
Spring Update 2017 / IKIMASHO!
by joostay
When I first started this blog in March 2012, it was more a collection of daily photos – a diary for myself more than anything – of all the new things I was seeing and doing in Tokyo. As the years went on, these daily things of course became (somewhat) normal to me and so IKIMASHO! matured (is that the right word?) into a site with more specific articles about traditional festivals, certain neighbourhoods in the city and other stuff […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: design, japan, living in japan, photography, Teaching in Japan, tokyo, travel, travel writer, writing
A walk around: Tsukishima, Tokyo
by joostay
TSUKISHIMA / 月島 Last Saturday I had a wander about Tsukishima – a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, just across the channel from Tsukiji fish market (which I still haven’t been to despite living here five years…) Tsukishima was created over 100 years ago using earth that was dredged from the bay during the construction of a shipping channel. It’s an area rarely featured in guidebooks, although among Japanese people it’s probably best known as a mecca for monjayaki – a kind of runny pancake with different ingredients, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: area guide, asia, asian, blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, neighbourhood, old japan, old tokyo, photography, shrines, street, temples, tokyo, urban
Dumplings by the thousands at Kameido Gyoza
by joostay
“From China, a thousand years ago: tasty history!”
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, china, chinese food, cooking, design, food, food photography, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, restaurant, travel
Lemon Ramen at Rinsuzu Shokudo, Ojima
by joostay
An unusual bowl in one of Tokyo’s lesser-known neighbourhoods
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: design, eating, food, food photography, ikimasho, interior design, japan, japanese, photography, tokyo
A walk around: Kagurazaka, Tokyo
by joostay
KAGURAZAKA / 神楽坂 Despite being cold, the winter months in Tokyo are often the best time of year to enjoy clear blue skies and sunshine. And so, with the sun on my back, I recently headed down to Kagurazaka for the afternoon – a neighbourhood in Tokyo not too far from Iidabashi station. (There’s a great cafe down by the canal there by the way, check it out.) Kagurazaka is perhaps most famous for its picturesque cobblestone streets, cute French restaurants […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: architecture, buddhism, design, food, graphics, ikimasho, japanese, photography, street photography, streets, travel, urban, Zen
Setagaya Boroichi 2017
by joostay
Last Sunday – with the cold visible on my breath – I made a short trip on the dainty Setagaya train line visit to the Setagaya Boroichi Fair. Started over 400 years ago, this huge flea market is now designated as one of Tokyo’s intangible folk cultural assets and features about 700 venders selling all sorts of food, junk, toys and antiques. There was a marching band with students playing the tuba, and everyone was in good spirits. I also tried […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, boroichi, daily life, design, fair, festival, japan, japanese, local life, photography, setagaya, tokyo, town, travel
THIS IS TOKYO // PORTRAIT OF A CITY
by joostay
IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: aesthetic, amazing, asia, blog, city, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, megacity, photography, shinjuku, street, tokyo, travel, travelling, urban, visit japan
Winter Sun at Canal Cafe, Iidabashi
by joostay
Watching the world – and the trains – go by…
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, coffee, design, food, japan, nature, photography, sun, tokyo, trains, trainspotting, urban, Zen
Urban Zen: Peace Through Nothingness
by joostay
Realising you are getting old(er) and being perfectly happy about it. A few days ago I came across a piece I did for ACCLAIM magazine in 2015 featuring a bunch of old photos I took with disposable cameras back when I was living in the south of Japan in 2003. It got me thinking how I didn’t really fully appreciate being in Kyushu at the time, and exploring my immediate surroundings. At 22, all I cared about was partying, going to punk […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: advertising, asia, buddhism, CREATIVE, design, japan, Nothingness, photography, tokyo, travel, urban, Zen
Shichi-Go-San / Seven-Five-Three
by joostay
Stumbling across a traditional rite of passage for young children way out in the ‘burbs
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: architecture, blog, culture, design, fashion, festival, Hachioji, japan, japanese, photography, shinto, tokyo, travel
Ramen: En, Hachioji
by joostay
Another shop ticked off Japan’s Top 50 list
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: awards, blog, cuisine, design, En, food, Hachioji, ikimasho, japan, japanese, japanese food, photography, ramen, tokyo
Autumn in Tokyo / 東京の秋
by joostay
Colorful leaves (koyo) are to the Japanese autumn what cherry blossoms are to spring. This is a time to seek out silent gardens: to sit motionless among the lonely reds and yellows of nature. Like IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, autumn, buddhism, change, design, gardens, japan, leaves, nature, parks, photography, tokyo, travel, Zen
Japan’s Beautiful Shirasagi-no Mai: White Heron Dance
by joostay
A millennium-old Japanese dance on the grounds of Sensoji Temple, Tokyo.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asakusa, asia, blog, culture, dance, dancing, design, fashion, festival, japan, japanese, matsuri, photography, se asia, sensoji, shirasagi-no mai, tokyo, traditional, travel, white heron dance
Traditional Kusajishi Archery at Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo.
by joostay
Those of us who work in Japan are lucky enough to get one or two national holidays a month. Health and Sports Day – also simply known Sports Day – is one such day held annually on the second Monday in October. It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle. To coincide with the national holiday, many traditional sporting events take place throughout the city. And so a few weeks […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: archery, asia, design, fabric, fashion, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, sports, tokyo, travel
THIS IS TOKYO
by joostay
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Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, japan, japanese, kichijoji, photography, se asia, shimokitazawa, tokyo, travel, urban, west tokyo
The Emerging Street Art Scene in Borneo
by joostay
Hanging out with a crew of graffiti artists in Kota Kinabalu
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, asian, blog, borneo, design, ikimasho, japan, kota kinabalu, photography, sabah, se asia, STREET ART, tokyo, travel, writing
Inner Reflection at Inokashira Koen
by joostay
Getting lost in the sound of the Japanese summer Last weekend I took a stroll around Inokashira Koen, a park 10 minutes by train from my house. If I ever decide to move away from Shimokitazawa, it will be to here – in and around Kichijoji. Just west of Tokyo, this area is close enough to the central wards to be convenient but far enough away to have a sleepy, bohemian atmosphere. Then again, being only ten minutes away, I guess I can […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, photography, setagaya, suganami, tokyo, travel, Zen
Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine Reitaisai 2016
by joostay
Last weekend was the annual Reitaisai (Grand Festival) in my suburb of Shimokitazawa. The festival was centred around Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine which was built more than 500 years ago to put the area under divine protection. Around 20 mikoshi (portable shrines) were scattered throughout the neighbourhood and then carried by various teams to the shrine itself. Like IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: culture, design, festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, matsuri, photography, shimokitazawa, tokyo, travel
Ramen: Yakumo, Nakameguro
by joostay
Playing a game of musical chairs – with wontons as the prize.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, cherry clossoms, design, food, ikimasho! japanese, japan, meguro, nakameguro, photography, ramen, sakura, tokyo, travel
Walking about Kampong Ayer Water Village, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
by joostay
With its own mosques, schools and police station it’s the largest stilt settlement in the world. Built entirely of stilt houses and wooden walkways, Kampong Ayer in Brunei is a collection of 42 villages housing more than 39,000 people. It is the world’s largest water village. I was lucky enough to visit Kamopong Ayer a few weeks back, and it was probably the highlight of my most recent trip to Borneo. From a distance, the water village looks like a slum, but many of the houses […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, brunei, bruneian, design, ikimasho, indonesia, malaysia, photography, se asia, travel, urban planning
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Taipei.
by joostay
Two days of VIP Treatment in Taipei’s most luxurious location Right now I’m back in my regular stomping ground of SE Asia for a couple of weeks. First stop: Taipei, capital of Taiwan. I’ve actually been to Taipei twice before, the last time being memorable for all the wrong reasons when I stupidly decided to break up with my ex-girlfriend in a hotel room on the last day or our trip here. Not something I recommend: an awkward bus back to […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, far eastern plaza hotel, five star, ikimasho, japan, japanese, luxury, photography, se asia, Taipei, Taiwan, tokyo, travel
Tōrō Nagashi: Lanterns for the Dead
by joostay
Tōrō nagashi is a long-held Japanese tradition where candle-lit lanterns are released into rivers to guide the spirits of the departed back to the other world.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: ambient, asia, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, darren mcclure, design, eilean rec., festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, peace, peaceful, photography, Porya Hatami, se asia, tradition, travel, Uwe Zahn, video, Zahn | Hatami | McClure, Zen
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: Visiting an ancient Japanese cross-dressing festival near Yokohama.
by joostay
Ofudamaki was established in 1688 when mothers gave their clothes to male Shinto dancers in the hope of bringing them protection from cholera. My latest piece for DAZED is now online, talking about Ofudamaki, an obscure festival held once a year in a nondescript area 50 km from Tokyo. Check it out here.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, cross dressing, culture, design, female, festival, gender roles, japan, japanese, male, matsuri, ofudamaki, photography, religion, shinto, tokyo, travel, urban
LITTLE ISAAN BARBERSHOP OF HORRORS: Getting a haircut in rural Thailand
by joostay
This time last year I was getting ready to go to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand for a couple of months. While looking through my camera the other day I came across some photos from my time in Isaan in the Thai countryside. I remember one day Allan and I went down to get haircuts at the local barbershop. The place was amazing – totally unlike any barbershop I’d seen before, with chickens running about and toddlers getting cool buzzcuts. It’s these daily experiences […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, cambodia, design, ikimasho, isaan, japan, japanese, photography, rural, thai, thailand, tokyo, travel, writing
Sunday Mornings & Mango Ice Cream
by joostay
Last Sunday morning I cycled to Enjoin (en-jo-in), a small Buddhist temple near my house. Despite it only being 10am, the temperature was already pushing 30 degrees and the air was still. The cicadas haven’t started yet, but I feel they aren’t far away. I bought mango ice cream from an elderly couple’s house across the street, and then wandered around the temple grounds, sitting alongside the turtles and koi carp. This post isn’t really about anything in particular, just the small and simple things in life that […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, meditation, nature, photography, setagaya, temple, tokyo, urban, wildlife, Zen
Natsubate / 夏バテ
by joostay
Right now I’m sitting in Starbucks listening to some god-awful freestyle jazz over the cafe speakers. If I was CEO of this place I’d just have Music for Airports by Brian Eno playing on repeat – my go-to music when I wanna bash out a load of writing. Sundays for me in Tokyo probably resemble that of many people around the world: laundry, cleaning, getting ready for the week ahead, yadda yadda yadda. But of course as well as a kindergarten teacher, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: advertising, asia, balance, bmx, career, CREATIVE, CREATIVITY, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, job, photography, se asia, sun, tokyo, travel, work, writing
The Bhutan Exhibition – Hint to Happiness @ Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo.
by joostay
A rare glimpse into the art and culture of one of the world’s most intriguing countries. A few weeks back I was invited along to the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo to check out its latest exhibition of art and relics from the Kingdom of Bhutan – a country I’d love to go to. Unfortunately, the only time I have ever seen the Himalayas was from the window of an airplane as I was evacuated from the earthquake in Nepal. […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, bhutan, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, design, himalayas, ikimasho, japan, japanese, masks, nepal, se asia, travel
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: EXPLORING AN ABANDONED (AND HAUNTED) THEME PARK IN INDONESIA
by joostay
“When the park was dissolved, the owners left the crocodiles there to become wild. There’s an urban legend that the crocodiles ate humans, another reason why the Balinese won’t go near the place” Of all my travels last year, discovering an abandoned theme park on the east coast of Bali was one of the highlights. I wrote a bit about it here on IKIMASHO! – but DAZED have picked up the scent (along with the crocodiles) so here’s my full report […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, blog, dazed, design, digital, haikyo, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, journalism, photography, taman festival, tokyo, urban exploration
My night with Pato Banton in Tokyo
by joostay
Just like a soup in a pot we are what?! Bubbling Hot.
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: asia, blog, bubbling hot, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, music, nights out, pato banton, photography, reggae, shinagawa, tokyo, travel, uk
Yushima Tenjin Grand Festival
by joostay
YUSHIMA / 湯島 Last Sunday I made my way out to Yushima in east Tokyo – a station one stop from Nezu on the Chiyoda line, not far from Ueno Park. Yushima Tenjin (or Yushima Tenmangu) is Tokyo’s most famous shrine of scholars, and is therefore visited by students all over the city who come to pray for good exam results. Inside the grounds you can see hundreds of ema – small wooden plaques – written by students hoping for entry to the university of their […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, design, festival, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, matsuri, photo essay, photography, shinto, summer, Tenjin, tokyo, travel, ueno, video, Yushima
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: WITNESSING A YAKUZA SHOW OF STRENGTH IN TOKYO
by joostay
Once a year the yakuza openly do a show of strength in Tokyo, disrobing to show their full-body tattoos. Last weekend I got very lucky and managed to see a Yakuza show of strength here in Tokyo. This is extremely rare – and definitely up there with my most memorable travel experiences. Takahashi-gumi is one of the big Yakuza groups in Tokyo. They stripped off in front of the police station to reveal their tattoos then began carrying a portable shrine through […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: culture, design, festival, japan, matsuri, photography, tokyo, travel, yakuza
Japan & the Art of Happiness in Doing Nothing
by joostay
Sunshine makes me happy. I’m not sure if I’d go as far as to say I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but I also certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that was to be the case. There are many people I know who class winter as their favourite season, loving the snow, and actually preferring to wear about ten layers of clothing day in, day out. I’ve never been able to understand it. Give me shorts, tshirt and bare feet any day. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: art, asia, design, happiness, japan, life, lifestyle, nomadic, photography, tokyo, travel, Zen
Bugaku & Traditional Weddings at Meiji Shrine
by joostay
The start of Golden Week for us – and a new life for many. Today was the first day of Golden Week, a cluster of National Holidays in Japan where many workers get around a week off work. You really couldn’t have asked for better weather – the sun was splitting the trees – and so I headed down to Meiji Shrine for the start of the Spring Festival. Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū) is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, culture, design, golden week, harajuku, japan, japanese, meiji jingu, photography, tokyo, travel
Mono no aware / 物の哀れ
by joostay
The sakura have fallen, swept away by the rivers and lost in the breeze for another year. Living gloriously, albeit for only a week, sakura are the embodiment of mono no aware (物の哀れ) – a Japanese Buddhist concept that recognizes the impermanence of life. In ancient Japan, warriors were compared to sakura blossoms – born to live brilliantly and die young. And so when the petals fall, a gentle sadness can be felt all throughout Japan. Spring is still here, but the pre-summer rains will soon begin.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, buddhism, design, japan, photography, tokyo, travel, Zen
Tsukemen: CAMINO, Mishiku, Setagaya.
by joostay
Serving up noodles and vegetables that almost look too good to eat.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, cafe, culinary, design, food, foodporn, ikimasho, japan, japanese food, noodles, photography, ramen, restaurant, sakura, shibuya, tokyo, tsukemen
IKIMASHO! 2016
by joostay
It’s been three months now since I moved back to Tokyo after travelling for the guts of a year. I arrived in January after my company needed someone to replace a teacher who had quit after the second term. So for the last three months I’ve basically been finishing off someone else’s contract – which has had its good and bad points. The positives: I had actually taught at this school before, four years ago. It was the first kindergarten I ever […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, japan, japanese, photography, sakura, shimokitazawa, spring, story, tokyo, travel
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE 2016, TOKYO, JAPAN.
by joostay
セントパトリックスデイ・パレード Sunday was the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Tokyo featuring the usual oddball mish-mash of Japanese-Irish flute bands; cute dogs in clothes; terrifying leprechauns; bizarre Brazilian dancers; and green tea promoted simply because it is green. Throw in some samurai, gymnasts and a guy dressed as a Guinness can, and you have one of the world’s more curious St. Patrick’s Day Parades. Slideshow and video below.
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: blog, culture, design, dublin, ikimasho, ireland, irish, japan, japanese, photography, saint patricks day parade 2016, st paddys, street, tokyo, urban, video
Plum Season in Kanagawa 2016
by joostay
34,998… 34,999 … 35,000 plum blossom trees in bloom at Soga Bessho Bairin. Last Saturday I woke up early and by 8.30am was already heading west out of Tokyo towards Shimosoga – a station in northeast Odawara, Kanagawa prefecture. I was on my way to get lost in Soga Bessho Bairin, a grove of 35,000 plum trees in the inaka, Japan’s countryside. There was a small festival being held to celebrate the plum bossoms. After about an hour on the Odakyu line the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, photo essay, photography, tokyo, travel, writing, Zen
‘Some no Komichi’: Fabric-Dyeing Festival in Nakai, Tokyo
by joostay
Exploring a new area with an old tradition… ❤ For the last 3-4 years I have been living in Setagaya-ku – one of the 23 wards of Tokyo. After spending a good deal of time here, I’ve become somewhat of a Setagaya snob, in that I genuinely think it’s the best place to live – my station of Shimokitazawa being low-key enough yet offering access to both Shibuya and Shinjuku in under ten minutes. The area around Shinjuku station is massive, and […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, fashion, festival, ikimasho, japan, kimons, photography, tokyo, tradition, traditional, travel, writing
IKIMASHO! IN TOP NORTHERN IRISH TRAVEL BLOGS 2016
by joostay
Happy to be featured in a list of top Northern Irish travel blogs put together by fellow countryman and friend Jonny Blair from Don’t Stop Living. Jonny is currently travelling in India (country 112) – but he also goes out of his way to visit micronations and disputed countries that most people have never even heard of. Check out his site to read all about his adventures in bizarre places such as Podjistan, Adammia, Austenasia, Karakalpakstan, Ladonia, Lagoan Isles, Christiania, Uzupis and Gorno Badakhshan. I caught […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bangor, design, japan, northern ireland, photography, tokyo, travel, writing
Un-street Street Photography: Tokyo’s Neglected Ordinary
by joostay
Like many teenagers, my first introduction to Tokyo was through Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA. I watched and rewatched Tetsuo and Kaneda’s motorbike chase scene through Neo Tokyo’s narrow alleyways and towering skyscrapers. When I finally visited Tokyo for real in 2003, this is the city I wanted to see: dark, mad, futuristic, alive. A place that seemed a million miles from my small hometown in Northern Ireland. Thirteen years on, however, and the Tokyo that interests me now is very different from the neon fairy […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, city, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, minimalism, photography, street, tokyo, urban
A walk around: Daitabashi, Tokyo.
by joostay
DAITABASHI / 代田橋 Stumbling across a cute Okinawan Town in Central Tokyo Did you know there’s a small Okinawan Town in Tokyo? Well, I say town, but it’s more like a collection of cute shops and alleyways in a residential neighbourhood. I found it by accident the other day while wandering aimlessly around Daitabashi, a station just a fifteen-minute walk from my house in Shimokitazawa. Despite living so close, I hadn’t been to Daitabashi in a long time so I decided to […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, photography, setagaya, shinjuku, story, street, tokyo, train, travel, urban, video
Staying at Bandula’s House. (Bandula Homestay, Sri Lanka.)
by joostay
Of the many countries I visited in 2015, I’d say Sri Lanka was the highlight. I was fortunate enough to be working with the Jetwing Hotel Group for a portion of my trip, and so was able to experience some really amazing hotels. When I wasn’t reviewing these properties, however, I chose to stay in homestays across the country: families who have turned their spare rooms into lodgings for travelling guests. (Another post about that here.) I fondly remember one family that […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: accomodation, asia, backpacking, blog, budget, design, food, foodie, japan, se asia, sigiriya, sri lanka, tokyo, travel, where to stay in sigiriya
A walk around: Residential Hachimanyama, Tokyo
by joostay
HACHIMANYAMA / 八幡山 I’ve been back living in Tokyo one month now. I arrived on a Monday night and was back to work on the Wednesday. Feels like I’ve never been away. Prior to me taking a break to travel for ten months I was working all the way out at Kashiwa in Chiba. It was a great school and I loved it, but the two-hour commute each way became too much, and that was what ultimately led me to needing a break. This time around I’m back working […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, culture, design, food, ikimasho, japan, keio, narrative, photo essay, photography, street, tokyo, travel, urban
Ramen: Konjiki Hototogisu, Hatagaya.
by joostay
Getting my ramen game back on. Eating ramen awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin. Ramen Walker is a website which specialises in reviewing, rating and generally being a know-it-all when it comes to ramen restaurants in Japan. Right now there are over 57,000 listed on its database, and as it turns out, No.20 on the list – Konjiki Hototogisu in Hatagaya – is just a ten-minute cycle from my house. As well as being rated highly by Ramen Walker, it was one of 10 ramen […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, cuisine, culinary, design, food, ikimasho, japanese, photography, ramen, review, soba, tokyo, travel
A walk around: Sasazuka, Tokyo
by joostay
SASAZUKA / 笹塚 I don’t know where I got the figure from – and please don’t quote me on it – but think I read one time that including metro and overland trains there are 924 stations in Tokyo. Whatever the true figure is, it surely can’t be too far off. Even after living in Tokyo for over three years there are still whole train lines that are completely unknown to me. Each station is essentially the heart of a little village or […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, city, design, japan, keio, photography, sasazuka, street, tokyo, travel, urban
Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats
by joostay
A 100-metre long mash-up of otaku culture & Japanese art history. While it was always my intention to return to Tokyo in 2016, I thought I would most likely arrive in March, just in time for hanami. As it turns out, a position in my old company opened up in January, so here I am. Thankfully, coming a few months early meant I was able to catch the current Takashi Murakami exhibition before it closes in March. Murakami is one of the most […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, blog, contemporary, culture, design, ikimasho, illustration, japan, japanese, mori art museum, roppongi, takashi murakami, travel
Back in Japan
by joostay
After 10 months and 10 countries I’m back living in Tokyo for a while! I originally left because I wanted to see more of Asia and the world, and I’m grateful I got to see so many amazing places and meet some great people in 2015. My first stop was Thailand where I stayed with my friends Allan & Fanfan in Isaan near the Cambodian border. From there I flew to Kathmandu in Nepal where I was involved in the earthquake, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, design, ikimasho, japan, northern ireland
DISPOSABLE JAPAN #2
by joostay
Random images from Japan taken with a disposable camera 2003/04 [click to scroll] DISPOSABLE JAPAN #1
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, blog, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, south east asia, tokyo, travel, urban
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Villa Sabandari, Ubud, Bali
by joostay
Two days of blissfully doing nothing in Bali’s cultural capital
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bali, boutique, CREATIVE, design, holiday, hotel, ikimasho, inaka, indonesia, interior design, japan, luxury, nature, photography, review, rice fields, se asia, tokyo, travel, ubud, video, wildlife
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Landesi by Jetwing, Galle, Sri Lanka
by joostay
Exploring Galle with classic colonial style, cricket and Jungle music. Apart from a quick stopover in Negombo in order to make an early-morning flight, the historic fort city of Galle was my last stop on my three-week Sri Lankan itinerary. The trip from Mirissa was painless, my local bus taking under an hour as it belted along the palm-fringed coast. After having already stayed in three impressive Jetwing properties, this was to be my fourth, and once again it didn’t […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: architecture, asia, blog, CREATIVE, design, drum and bass, galle, hotel, ikimasho, interior design, japan, mirissa, photography, review, se asia, sri lanka, tokyo, travel, video
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Jetwing Vil Uyana, Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
by joostay
Eco Retreat? Nature Reserve? Luxury Resort? Jetwing Vil Uyana is all of these, and more… Truth be told, after being caught up in the earthquake in Nepal in April I was a little apprehensive about coming back to Asia. But I’ve been drawn to the region for the past ten years, and so it was only a matter of time before I jumped on a plane back East. Coming to Sri Lanka was the best decision I ever could have […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 5 star, animals, asia, backpacking, dambulla, design, endangered, five star, hotel, lizards, luxury, photography, resort, sirigiya, snakes, sri lanka, travel, video
Marrakech or Meh-rrakech?
by joostay
Recently named the world’s best destination – yet I’m still trying to figure out why. I spent some time in Marrakech about a month ago but haven’t really written much about it. During my stay I was struck down with severe food poisoning for the first time in my life. I’ve had a mild case before, but this was something else: 10 hours of hardcore vomiting, delirious and generally festering about in my own filth. (At one point I was […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: africa, arabic, asia, backpacking, city, culture, design, food, ikimasho, illness, japan, marrakech, morocco, north africa, photography, poisoning, tokyo, travel
IKIMASHO! 