The noren is certainly one of the most recognizable aspects of Japan’s traditional retail spaces. J.J. O’Donoghue writes a piece for the Japan Times that could pretty much be described as “everything you ever wanted to know about noren but were afraid to ask.”
Omotesando Koffee is back, sorta. I was sad to hear about its closing back in 2015, but Eiichi Kunitomo is not only back with a new shop at the exact same location (in the back streets of Harajuku/Aoyama), but with a twist as well. Koffee Mameya is more interested in selling you beans than serving coffee — you can order a cup to go, but that’s just an aside. Time Out Tokyo has a great piece that features an interview with Kunitomo talking about the new spot.
State of Tokyo is a rather nice new site by Alex Abian covering the people and places of Tokyo, with beautiful photography throughout. Looks like it’s going to be fun to follow, with coverage of places like Takeo, a tiny little restaurant in Shibuya that is run in the mornings by the pictured Takeo (in the afternoon, it turns into a different restaurant).
Monocle has a new video up that covers makers of gin, wine, and whiskey, and one of them (the final part in the video) is the Chichibu-based Chichibu Distillery, maker of what looks like rather tasty whiskey. I’ve been to Chichibu a few times for hiking, but I should have paid more attention to this.
Fuck hand-drip coffee, here’s the arrival of hand-drip green tea, which you can get at this newly opened — and beautifully minimalist in design — cafe in Sangenjaya, called Tokyo Saryo. More details and photos in this Spoon & Tamago post.
Bake sounds like a very interesting pastry shop/chain — read more about the company in this Spoon & Tamago post — and pictured here is its latest shop, located in Kyoto. Yup, those are Lego blocks that you see as part of the decor.
If I find myself in Osaka, I’m definitely going to make a point of checking out Bird Coffee. Produced by Truck Furniture, it’s a beautiful cafe, and I recommend you take time going through the videos on their site — those donuts look delicious.
What a fantastic idea for a bag — and you can buy it from the online Nissin store for 300 yen. Read this Spoon & Tamago post for more details on how it came about.
Time Out Tokyo has a list up of what they consider to be the top cafes in Tokyo. It’s quite the decent list — of course, there’s sure to be someone’s favorite missing — and a good place to start if you’re on the lookout for new spots to check out. Nice to see Fuglen (pictured) at #2 — that was my local cafe for the last 2 years of my life in Tokyo. Found via my friend Mio.
I really like this commercial for the Match energy drink — you can also watch a behind-the-scenes video. The choreography is definitely by AyaBambi, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a hand in producing the outfits as well. Found via my buddy Daniel Feit.