In Koenji with Terry Ellis
In a city full of interesting and sometimes peculiar places to go shopping, Koenji is a site of pilgrimage. West of the chaos of Shinjuku, it’s where you go if you’re after an exact pair of 70s Levi’s, or that one field jacket, or a faded-just-so western shirt.
The Salaryman
The Tokyo Salaryman is a semi-mythical being. He’s someone who works a mostly unspecified corporate job. He is in the office until his boss leaves. He wears a dark suit and a white shirt and can often be found looking fairly exhausted on the city’s Hibiya Line.
Our friend Shu Ikeuchi likes to joke that he is the ‘ultimate salaryman.’ A consultant and creative strategist with boundless energy, he wanted to take us on a tour of Shibuya after the boss has finally left the office. It’s when the whisky highballs begin to flow and cigarette smoke and dodgy karaoke singing fills the air.
Drake's in Tokyo: Makoto Konno's Kitchen
In the world of Tokyo hospitality, Makoto Konno is a bit of a legend. Decades of experience, two very successful French bistros in the city: Organ and Uguisu. He was one of the first to explore the potential of introducing natural wine to Japanese drinkers. “Twenty years ago that word, natural, didn't exist here,” says Konno, sat across from me at a large, pale wooden table, afternoon sunlight pouring in floor-to-ceiling windows 10 floors up. “Soon we’d built a community, word spread, and we built something a bit different.”
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Revue: Mark Cho
