Travel To Tokyo

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Shinji is serious about soba (buckwheat noodles), so Sasuga (ginza-sasuga.jp), a discreet noodle joint in buzzy Ginza, is our first stop. Many well-regarded restaurants only use 80% buckwheat flour, and chain restaurants more like 30%, Shinji explains, but at Sasuga the noodles are handmade daily using 100% buckwheat. A chalkboard by the entrance pinpoints the farm that supplies the day’s batch. Inside, the soba is as graceful as the lattice-screen surrounds, and when we’ve finished the noodles, a waitress emerges with clay pots of hot water, transforming the soba-infused dashi (stock) into a cleansing soup.

Traditional Japanese sweet treats (wagashi) draw droves of Tokyoites to this gorgeous Ginza store (higashiya.com). ‘I’m not normally a fan of wagashi; I prefer Western pastry because of the cream and butter – fat and sweet!’ The big difference is that Higashiya innovates, explains Shinji, going beyond the traditional anko (sweet bean paste) fillings, instead loading up mochi with butter, cream cheese, chocolate and nuts. The gift-wrapping and store design are impeccable, too. It’s a trendy spot for Japanese afternoon tea but even Shinji admits he’s a bit full, so we grab a bottle of house-infused Japanese liquor instead.

An anonymous office nearby hides within it a startling secret: perhapozuwashi.net). Most of the washi (paper) here has been made by hand in the same way for centuries, Shinji says, standing amid meticulous shelves of plain and patterned paper, calligraphy brushes and more, all hewn with the utmost Tokyo precision. A tiny museum upstairs reveals that a shop on this spot first opened in 1653, back when the area was the heart of Edo’s merchant district.