I am in class every day from 10am until 1:10pm, then I plan an adventure for the rest of the day, usually taking the train to a location to start with, sometime up to an hour away, and then sometimes making my way back on foot, changing my plan as I go. The day I went to the Nippori Fabric town I ended up wandering the area, then headed to Akihabara ( Electric town) and then back home – this whole adventure probably took about 6 hours and I was on foot most of the time. Travelling this way has allowed me to discover interesting places that may or may not be in any tourist guide.
one place I enjoyed was a standing sushi bar.
One place I stumbled upon was a market filled with vendors that sold regional culinary specialties. I bought a bottle of corn tea. Very interesting – it tasted almost exactly like you would expect.
I also noticed someone ducking into an interesting area under the bridge where the train runs. It turns out it was an artisan market. The area underneath the track was pristine, each shop was like an art gallery. I ended up buying a beautiful hand made leather wallet to replace the one I lost a few months ago. I wandered through the area appreciating all of the handmade artisan items – pottery, prints, figurines, hats, leather goods, hand dyed clothing, handmade umbrellas of all different sizes among other things. The work was beautiful.
