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.