Pickle-flavored Pringles

Japanese consumers eat pickles by the gallon, but not THESE kind of pickles. Rating three splats on the Sour-O-Meter, Screamin’ Dill Pickle Pringles are the most mysterious flavor I’ve seen yet. I mean, last time I checked, sourness wasn’t the most prized attribute of potato chips. I can tell they’re not a locally developed product because theContinue reading “Pickle-flavored Pringles”

Live Music for Eight

Remember how I was talking about shoebox-sized businesses here in Tokyo? Well, around the corner from Eat A Peach in Shimokitazawa is the Apollo Jazz Bar. As you walk by on the narrow street outside, the sound of pro musicians jamming wafts up the steps from this basement grotto, calling you in like the Pied Piper.Continue reading “Live Music for Eight”

Time For a Nice Bowl of Intestine Soup

Forget the Clearasil and dumpster the Oil of Olay. My friend Hiro tells me that all I have to do to have beautiful skin is eat lots of motsunabe. Apparently, Japanese women have eaten pig intestines for ages, chasing the perfect creamy complexion. On a cold winter night, the bubbling pot of motsunabe turned out toContinue reading “Time For a Nice Bowl of Intestine Soup”

More Alike Than You Might Think

This week my friend Tomoko and I searched out a tiny vintage kimono shop in Shimo-kitazawa that was featured in Yamato Kimono-hime, the magazine from which I scanned the fabulously styled photo on the left. That article made me think differently about kimonos, and I got to thinking about how Kalico Delafay’s Dollymop designs made me think differently about a western garment that historically defined female beauty:Continue reading “More Alike Than You Might Think”