Shakujii Pool & L'Onion

Today was the first day after a great Typhoon hit Tokyo, and the sun was shining from a clear, blue sky. Shakujii Pool closes for season on September 10, so I decided to have one last swim and a tan before the season is over. I went in the early morning, when the place is not as crowded as it gets later in the day. After lunchtime dads with kids start arriving, and the place becomes a little bit too lively for me. This is a public pool, so as you might expect there are a lot rules that the guards keep themselves busy enforcing, such as no running, no wearing of jewelry etc. They allow you to eat and drink in a designated area by the kids pool, and there a vending machines selling soft drinks and ice cream.

Then we went to have lunch at L'Onion, an Italian restaurant right by Shakujii Park. We ordered the B Pranzo set (1900 yen), which includes starters, main dish, desert coffee. The starter was a pumpkin salad (picture below), which tasted well.

The main dish came soon after. It was fettuccine pasta with clams and prawns in a tomato cream sauce. It was very nice and the spices were well-balanced. Even the clams were well-prepared, which is unusual in Tokyo.

Dessert was a chocolate-mocca mouse, and it came with any coffee or tea of your choice (except Cappuccino which costs extra). I ordered espresso. Desserts at L'Onion always taste very nice and fresh, and we were not disappointed this time either.

Overall it was a good meal, especially for a set. One way of judging if a western restaurant in Tokyo knows what it is doing is to check whether they serve freshly baked bread, and keep bringing more to your table without you having to ask all the time. I've had numerous battles with waiters in Tokyo over being charged extra for extra pieces of bread, but this is not the case at L'Onion. As for the meals themselves they are always nice here, but you can never expect to be blown away by the variety of dishes, after a while you begin to recognize a pattern in the way they change the menu.No, the reason why we keep coming back is the atmosphere and the interior and exterior design. If the weather is good and it's not too hot then it's wonderful to sit on the veranda on the second floor (picture below), enjoying the view of the boats in Shakujii Pond while having your meal.

There is also a little patio (picture below) on the first floor, by the entrance, although the view here is not quite as good.

Today it was too hot to sit outside, so we chose a table on the first floor. I could see the staircase (picture below) from my seat, and it's another sign of the owner's good sense.

Another picture of the exteriors below.

We took a walk around Shakujii Pond (picture below) on the way home, wind was just perfect and the sun was glittering in the water. Just the way a Saturday should be!

Toshimaya

This evening we went to Toshimaya (03-5393-6793), an open-air izakaya-style eatery next to Sanpoji Pond in Shakujii Park. They serve oden and other, typical izakaya food, along with sake, beer and soft drinks. Toshimaya opened when a 100-meter long swimming pool was opened close to Sanpoji Pond in the Taisho period (1912-1926). I have looked for any trace of the swimming pool, but so far I have not been able to find any trace of it. Emperor Showa made a visit to Shakujii Park while he was still crown prince, and allegedly he took a rest at Toshimaya. There is no record of whether he had any refreshments or anything to eat. There is a stone with an inscription on the other side of Sanpoji Pond which commemorates the occasion.

We ordered beer for my wife and a Sprite for myself, and my wife ordered a smelly meat dish that the Japanese call "hormone". I have no idea what kind of meat this is, but I know that I don't like it. Instead I got some potato chips for myself. I've had oden and other dishes here before, and the food here holds high-end izakaya class.

I have been to many izakaya and many open-air restaurants, but none that resembles the atmosphere at Toshimaya. The type of establishment that gets closest is some yamagoya (mountain hut) that I have visited in the Japanese alps, but Toshimaya is more sophisticated. Japanese friends tell me Toshimaya reminds them of the Showa period, and although I don't have any such memories myself I can feel the sense of peace and sentimentalism in the air at Toshimaya. To sit on the bench at Toshimaya with a cold drink in your hand, listen to the crickets and see day turn into evening and get ready to bring closure to the the day is a feeling that lasts, and only slowly fades away as you stroll back home.

A visit to Shakujii Ground

Today we went visited Shakujii Grounds, which is a large sports facility belonging to Bank of Japan. It is located right next Sanpoji Pond of Shakujii-Park, and since you find an easy enough map in Japanese below.





Well inside we realized how big this place is. It contains one baseball ground, one football ground, about 10 tennis courts, a sports gymnasium, two outdoor pools and something as rare (in Japan) as lawn that have no particular purpose other than being just lawns to have fun on. The main building has the size and facilities of country club, except it doesn't contain sleeping quarters. Check out the pictures below.











The swimming pool in the picture above is not in use anymore, hence the greenish color of the water, and the same goes for the little kids pool right next to it.

We spoke with the manager of the place, a retired Japanese man. He informed us that some of the facilities are open not just to BoJ employees, but also to citizens of Nerima Ward. You can book two of the tennis courts, and non-adults can book the baseball ground. You can also use some of the indoor facilities such as large rooms with sofas etc., but not the changing room or the showers. Speaking of the indoor facilities, vending machine drinks are 10-20 yen cheaper here! He also told us that non-BoJ employees can use the football field as long as it is just a small group kicking a ball around, and that you are allowed to have picnics on the lawns as long as you don't have a barbecue, but pointed out that this is all at his discretion.

If you want to book any of the designated facilities the call this number at the Nerima Ward office: 03-3995-2805. I doubt they speak a word of English, so if you help in English I suggest you call the main line at 03-3993-1111, they should be able to somehow direct you to an English speaker.

Kaldi Oizumigakkuen

Today I stopped by Kaldi Oizumigakkuen, located on the 2nd floor in the shopping center Yumeria Fuente right outside the south exit of Oizumigakkuen Station. Kaldi is an import food & drink retail chain similar to Yamaya, although Kaldi's prices are slightly lower than Yamaya. Just like Yamaya they sell mainly dry and canned food and drink, and very little fresh food, and the selection at Kaldi Oizumigakkuen is varied and good for such a small storespace. While Yamaya focuses more on liquor Kaldi has more of a focus on coffee, and you can order your choice of freshly grounded coffee. And they won't let you escape from the coffee theme; their staff go around the shop with trays full of paper cups with hot coffee, shouting that the coffee is free. Unfortunately this free coffee tastes like most coffee served in Japan, i.e. American. If I want hot coffee I'd rather pay for it at Starbucks on the same floor as Kaldi.

Kaiten-sushi lunch at Choshimaru Oizumi-Inta

Today we went to kaiten-sushi chain Choshimaru's Oizumi-Inta restaurant (picture above) for lunch. As usual we bicycled from our home in Shakujii-Koen, and it took us 10-15 minutes. Located next to the Oizumi Interchange and with a large car park it is most easily accessible by car, and you can find a map (Japanese) below.

We arrived at 11:45 AM, and we had to sit down and wait for 10 minutes for our table, while watching other people eat (picture below).

Once we got a seat we started ordering, kaiten-sushi style, ignoring the constant loudspeaker announcements about various specials. The miso soup was free. It had been cooked using shiro-miso (sweet miso), and a mixture of vegetables and fish bones. I love miso soup with my sushi, but I prefer aka-miso (darker and less sweet than shiro-miso), and I expect a proper sushi restaurant to use juicier parts fish parts such as heads and tails which produce a "fishier" taste. What about the sushi then? The kohada I had was cut very small and the taste was dry. The salmon was great, but the price of 262 yen for one plate was a bit steep. The negitori was good, and so was the the maguro. I ended up having 6 plates, and it cost me about 1200 yen.

Choshimaru is a large, JASDAQ-listed restaurant chain with restaurants all over Kanto. And as with so many other restaurant chains the quality and taste of the food goes down while the price goes up. The fact that this restaurant was located in the same building as a convenience store and regular family restaurant speaks for itself. The best kaiten-sushi I've had was always served in small, seemingly independent restaurants where the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed and the chef (usually the owner) a friendly fellow who put his heart and soul into cutting perfect pieces of fresh fish.

Finally, I noticed that that this restaurant serves whale (picture above). Now I know that there are different opinions about whale hunting, but isn't it amazing that the meat of an animal that the Japanese government claims that it only hunts for research purposes somehow finds it way to a kaiten-sushi restaurant in Tokyo's western suburbs, where it is sold for 399 yen a plate?

Water Walk in The Suburbs of Tokyo

I have to tell you about the best book I ever read about exploring Tokyo: Water Walks in The Suburbs of Tokyo by Sumiko Enbutsu and Mimi Le Bourgeois. It has been a great guide for me in exploring the the vast western suburbs surrounding Seibu Ikebukuro Line, of course including the area I live in; Shakujii. The very clear, step-by-step directions to exploring the different areas have been great help for me, especially in the early days when my Japanese was somewhat limited and I didn't quite have the confidence to venture too far away from the relative safety of train stations. The book details the history as well as the present of each area like no other source available in English, with a focus on following existing and historical waterways. Believe it or not; there are still waterways in Tokyo that have not been made unrecognizable after getting plastered in concrete!

You can read a good review of the book on TokyoQ, and you can sample some of the walks in full on TokyoQ. I ordered my copy by emailing the authors, and it cost 900 yen (plus postage). I have also seen the book on sale at Good Day Books in Ebisu.

Lunch at Chinese restaurant Suji

Today my wife had lunch at Suji, a Chinese restaurant in front Shakujii-Koen Station. As usual this kind of local restaurant don't have much of a presence on the Internet, but here is a link with some comments and directions on Yahoo Gourmet, which is one of the best Japanese language sources for researching little eateries like this. In order to get there please go out of the the south exit of Shakujii-Koen Station, then head for the taxi stand to the left outside the ticket wickets. Across the taxi stand and the bus rotary you should be able to see a KFC. Go towards the KFC, soon you should see a Family Mart on your left, on the same side of the street as KFC. Go past the Family Mart and you should soon see the exterior of Suji pictured above. Here is the best map I could find online (Japanese).



Then what about the food? My wife had lettuce and plum noodles, and as you can see in the picture above it came with lots of tofu. The meal cost her 700 yen, and she says it was refreshing and tasted well, and notes that the streaming jazz music made the experience even more pleasant. I have also eaten here before, and although I mainly had more mainstream types of ramen I thought it tasted really well. Service is excellent, speedy and friendly. The only minus with this eatery is the interior design (picture below), which gives it an undeserved feeling of canteen.

A visit to Hikarigaoka Park

Today we visited Hikarigaoka Park. Strictly speaking Hikarigaoka Park is not on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, it's on Hikarigaoka Station on the Toei Odeo Line. In order to get there by train from the Seibu Ikebukuro Line you simply change train lines at Nerima Station.

This is what the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association has to say about the park:

"During the war, this area was a Japanese military airfield. After the war, U.S Air Force took over the place and used it as the Grant Heights. It was returned to Japanese administration in 1973 and one third of the whole area was allocated to this park.It is a very wide park with such facilities as a large lawn square, baseball grounds, tennis courts, a bird sanctuary and camping area. From 1981, construction of a new Hikarigaoka town started in the area next to the park, and many tall residential buildings, offices and schools has been built. Now it is one of the largest and tallest residential area in Tokyo."

Friends of mine who grew up in the area have fond memories of sneaking into the base to buy american candy. Apparently it was the Japanese authorities who didn't want the locals to enter the base, the Americans didn't mind the visitors. After the base was returned to Japan all buildings were bulldozed, although my friends say there is still one small concrete shelter left somewhere in the park. I have not been able to find it, but I know that the old runway is now the main street in front of the IMA Department Store in Hikarigaoka, and I guess the picture below shows part of it. You can read more about Grant Heights here and here.



Hikarigaoka Park has what many other Tokyo parks lack: wide, open, green fields. It's also a less popular park than many of the large parks in central Tokyo, so you call picnic, play and go for long walks without bumping into people.







On the way back home we passed by the Hotel Cadenza Hikarigaoka, a good hotel that feels a bit out of place in a residential area like Hikarigaoka. I'll write more about its inside in another blogg.

Yamaya Hikarigaoka

Today we went by bicycle to Yamaya Hikarigaoka, about 15 minutes away by bicycle from Shakujii-Koen Station. Yamaya is one of the main importers of foreign foods and drinks, and this is one of the biggest stores in that chain that I ever visited.




In the picture below you can see a poster for Yamaya Hikarigaoka's home delivery service. It's free if you live in the vincinity and buy for more than 5000 yen. When we visited they had a time-limited home-delivery campaign, which offered to deliver a fairly big box of goods of your choice to any address within Tokyo for a fee of 400 yen.

Lunch at East Indian restaurant Shanty

Today we had lunch at the East Indian restaurant Shanty, which opened on April 28 this year. This probably explains why the restaurant does not have a website yet, in fact it is not yet listed on any of the big Japanese online restaurant guides. The staff are all Indian (in Tokyo I 've found that it's usually a sign of genuinity when the staff are native) , and at least one of them spoke good English.

Shanty is located between Shakujii-Koen Station and Nerima-Takanodai Station, and since there are no maps available you can either call them at 03-3997-7607 or go by the following directions. Get out of the North Exit of Shakujii-Koen Station and head for the Seiyu supermarket. Follow the narrower road in front of Seiyu, away from Shakujii-Koen Station, towards Nerima-Takanodai Station. After 5-10 minutes' walk you should see its green sign on the right side of the street.

You can see their lunch menu in the picture above. I decided to order the C set for 1050 yen, which included 2 curries, tandori chicken, nan, rice, salad and a soft drink. As you can see the choice of curries is a bit on the limited side, but they do ask if you want your curry hot or not. Also worth noting is the fact that you don't have the choice of either nan or rice, you get both with the sets. I asked for chicken and mutton curry, both hot of course, and you can see a picture of the meal below.

I have never been to India, and I'm not an expert in the art curry. Still, when I compare the set I had a Shanty with any other curry meal I had in Tokyo, I must say it is one of the better. The curry itself didn't exactly blow me away, but the tandori chicken and the nan were among juiciest and freshest I ever had in Tokyo. I will be back.

A walk around Shakujii Pond

Yesterday evening my wife went for a walk around Shakujii pond, the area that most people think of when they hear of Shakujii Park. In the picture above you can see rental row boats all parked, so the picture must have been taken after 17:00, which is when the boat rental closes.

Another picture from he same side of Shakujii Pond.

And finally a picture of one of the wild ducks who have made Shakujii Pond their home.

An afternoon walk around Sanpoji Pond

This afternoon, some time around 17:00, my wife went for a walk around Sanpoji Pond. In the picture above you can see a bridge in the distance, beyond the waterlilies. Doesn't it look a bit like Claude Monet's The Japanese Bridge in Giverny?

Another angle of Sanpoji Pond.

The picture above shows the outside of Toshimaya, an authentic Showa-period, open-air izakaya. I will cover this little gem in a later posting.

Toshimaen Pool!

Today we went to Toshimaen Pool. We arrived at Toshimaen Station in the morning, around 9:30 AM and left around 14:00. If you come from Ikebukuro Station it's easiest to take a train bound for Toshimaen Station, otherwise it's easiest to take train that stops at Nerima Station and change there for a train bound for Toshimaen Station.


We were lucky to arrive so early; the place started to fill up quickly after lunch, and the lines to rides too long. We rolled out our matt by the 50 meter pool in the middle of the pool complex (between location 4 and 6 in the map above). This area was far less crowded than the areas near the entrance and around the fancier pools, such as the wave pool (pool picture above, location 1) . It was amazing to see all the equipments people managed to squeeze into this cramped area; tents, cool-boxes, little grills etc.


The Wave pool itself was nicer than we first thought. It was extremely crowded where the water was deeper, but we found it quite nice to lay down and relax closer to the "beach". We tried some of the rides in Hydropolis (location red 1), for which you have to buy a day pass costing 500 yen. It was a lot of fun, especially if I try to forget about the time we had spend in lines...


We had lunch at the Indian restaurant (located by the coffee cup above location 2). The kitchen staff were Indian, and for 600 yen for a set with either nan or rise it was a real treat after 2-3 hours in the water.

We left just in time to see the crowds grow critical, and on the way back home we stopped by Starbucks Toshimaen while waiting for the train.

Life on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line

For the last year or so I have been living close to Shakujii-Koen Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. Previously I have lived close to Hoya Station, Higashikurume Station, of course both on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line.

During all the years of living and commuting on this line I have searched for information in English about history, events, places to eat etc. connected with the stations that fly by the train window. I found bits and pieces here and there, but nothing close to the comprehensive source I was looking for. So I decided to do something about it, and here it is, Seibu Ikebukuro Life.

In the short term I intend to start out with posts about things currently close to my heart; restaurants, pools, mountains and parks. This blog will naturally be very much centred on Shakujii Park, but I will try to make sure no part of the line is left behind. Suggestions on improvements and topics to be covered are most welcome!

Larry