Day 4 - Old(er) men, living with no regrets!

In the last episode of this exciting series (no skip recap), we heard how we had our first proper interaction with some locals. But today I was fortunate enough to be meeting up with an old friend from primary school! No, this isn’t a joke. My friend Soichiro had moved to the UK with his family at 4 years old, and we went to Burlington Infants and Junior School together. We hadn’t seen each other for a million years, but I took a chance and messaged him through an interesting website called TheFacebook. He was kind enough to accept an invitation to meet—and today was the day.

But first, breakfast

We went back to Denny’s! You can judge me all you want, but the kids and I all had pancakes—which I’m sure we can all agree is the height of luxury.

At least, you can think so. But after visiting Ginza in Tokyo, I now have a new appreciation of what luxury really means.

Ginza land of luxury, home of timekeeping

I had always planned to visit Ginza because last year I became somewhat obsessed with watches. It’s probably a sign of middle age, but after years of smartwatch notifications I cracked, and found a new love and appreciation of time-and-date-only watches.

Ginza is special not only because of its luxury, high-end retail—but also for its rich history in watch and clock making, especially Seiko.

Before meeting Soichiro, I figured we could go to the Seiko Museum (which is free) and then quickly pop over to Seiko House. We spent around 30 minutes or more in the museum, and you may be surprised to read that my daughter actually found it quite interesting. The museum, of course, covers Seiko’s history primarily, but also how people told the time in the past—which she enjoyed the most. On the way out, the kids received origami watches and badges for visiting. Lovely touch.

The World’s Swankiest Toilet Break?

It’s less than a five-minute walk from the museum to the famous Seiko House. We didn’t have much time, however, due to toilet breaks being called for. I didn’t really understand the request, because I’m sure everyone (apart from me) had used the toilets in the museum.

But a lack of bladder control gave us a trip to probably the poshest toilets in Tokyo. Veneered wood, low lighting, scented candles, real towels—you get the idea.

At Seiko House, you’re able to see a lot of the Grand Seiko and Seiko collections. But if you don't know, Seiko House is actually a high-end department store. After whizzing around and catching a glimpse of the Seiko Astron (SSJ025) I had been saving for, it was time to find my friend.

A Joyful Reunion

We had planned to meet opposite Seiko House, at Ginza Place, which also had a restaurant we had chosen for lunch. After crossing and leading the family through throngs of people, I heard someone cry out “Alex!”—and of course, after nearly 40 years apart, it was So.

After joyous handshakes and proper introductions, we all went to have some lunch at Lion Ginza. It’s a beer hall–type restaurant, but I had searched the menu online and could see the kids could have pizza and chips—leaving the adults to get on with the more exotic options.

The drinks and food came quickly and we had a wonderful lunch together. So and I ate ribs and octopus balls. If that has put you off, then go for the beer - dark & delightful. I would certainly recommend checking out this location. And if you can’t, then at least look up Yebisu beer. I'm thirsty just thinking about it.

More treats were still to come. Soichiro took us to FUJIYA Sukiyabashi Cake Store, and we bought some cake to eat together at Hibiya Park. It was a very special afternoon, and I can’t thank Soichiro enough for making the trip to see us in Ginza.

I consider myself incredibly blessed to have had his friendship in my childhood—and once again, so many years later.

Watch Pilgrimage Continues

Unfortunately, Soichiro is a busy airline pilot, so it’s unlikely he will come to Ginza to see you, however… here’s what else we did:

• Visited Seiko Dream House – (yes, another Seiko store, and yes, it’s worth it even if you’ve already been to Seiko House)
• Stopped for coffee at Café Kyobunkwan
• Visited the Citizen flagship store

Our trip was clearly dominated by watch window shopping and fine dining in great company. Needless to say, we got only the smallest taste of what Ginza has to offer. The scale of this luxury district is something else to behold—and if sampling the fine life is something you enjoy, I implore you to give yourself a day there.

DAD HINT: If you go to Ginza on the weekend, they close one of the main roads, making it easier to stroll about.

Heading Underground in Asakusa

From the highs of Ginza to the lows of Asakusa. Well not quite low but to the Asakusa Underground District in fact. How I came across this odd location I cannot remember but ever since I saw it - I knew I had to go. I even had a trench coat on that day (it’s clearly a classic raincoat) and insisting my family call me Dekard for the next 10 minutes we ended down a shady flight of stairs.

It’s a small location and even if you’re pretending to be (spoiler alert) an android hunting androids you will walk through it quickly enough. I was fascinated with this underground space but my wife couldn’t believe we had gone from glamorous Ginza to this dystopian district. I was desperate to have a drink at one of the bars but the thought of tired legs being tired meant I got us home quickly before anyone needed carrying home, myself included.

Tokyo had given us another day of delights and we couldn’t be more thankful. Tomorrow would be Sunday and we knew what we had to do - get ourselves to church!