Shopping

Shopping in Tokyo, for those with the patience, can be a rewarding enterprise. There are all kinds of eccentric stores tucked away in narrow streets, or in the basements of major buildings. Here are a few I've been shopping in (or, more to the point, drooling in) lately;

* Tobu 9th Floor (Ikebukuro) - where all good kimono go to be born. Most of the kimono are, of course, indecently expensive, up to 1 million yen for one (about A$13,000) but some of the less expensive yukata are quite fabulous and cost about 30,000 yen (A$400) which is still a fair chunk of coin. Just fantasising about wearing one of these little suckers is enough to sustain me for a month. And all the accoutrements! Geta, Obi, those funky enamel hairpieces. Get me a tent, a gas stove, and lose me forever! The 9th floor also has a ton of decent omiyage (traditional Japanese gifts for the folks back home) such as noren, fans and lacquer boxes.

* Seremoa Tsukuba (Shinjuku). This is actually, ahem, a funeral store, with an endless and fascinating supply of religious artefacts and accessories for the dead which would put a large Buddhist temple to shame. This place is teeming with Shinto shrines, Buddhist altars (if that's what they are, in fact, called), Buddha effigies, and those whacky wood burial sticks that look like overgrown paddlepop sticks. In case you thought I was getting all Buddhist and morbid on your asses, my interest is simply aesthetic - it's an irresistable place to wander around and they have the most excellent selection of quality incense, essential oils and oil burners.

* Kiddyland (Harajuku). Every cartoon (or extravagantly merchandised) character known to man, can be found in one incarnation or another at Kiddyland. "Spirited Away" characters, Astroboy, Pokemon, Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty. You name it, they got a toothbrush or set of chopsticks emblazoned with it. Truly a mecca for those who never grew up (you talkin' to me?)

* Seibu Deli (Ikebukuro). Matt and I, in are summer-induced lethargies, have taken to having "Seibu Samplers" for dinner, a hodge-podge of tidbits from Seibu's (one of the largest department stores in the world) basement, which is roughly the size of a small city. You could spend hours checking out the gyoza makers, sake-purveyors, sushi chefs, green-tea grinders, the phenomenally over-priced fruit - and my favourite section - the patissieres with their endless conveyor belts of tiramisus, chocolate macadamia nut heavens and their endless sugar and cream-overloaded cousins.

Down, fat count!