On this day, I planned to visit Asakusa (浅草) and try wearing traditional Japanese costume there.
Breakfast:
Toyoko Inn offers simple breakfast every day. I didn’t eat too much because I wanted to eat traditional Japanese style food in Asakusa. I just ate some to keep up my energy.
Morning: Asakusa (浅草)
This place is a historic area. There are hundreds of traditional shops and a lot of Edo activities here.
How to get there: Keikyu Line (京急本線) from Shinagawa Station (品川駅) to Asakusa station (浅草駅)
The most common route of visiting Asakusa is from the Kmainarimon Gate (雷門) to the Asakusa Temple (浅草寺). It is only about 450 meters, but traditional shops stand cheek by jowl there. You can find loads of Japanese style rice crackers, egg cakes, bread, handbags, umbrellas, socks, chopsticks and so on.
↓ Kmainarimon Gate
↓ Asakusa Temple
↓Walking along this route, I saw sakura blossom. The weather is also beautiful. However, there were too many people.
Brunch: Kagetudo (花月堂)
After taking a lot of pictures, I felt a bit hungry. I went to eat melon bread for brunch.
Melon bread is one of the most famous foods in Asakusa. Their bread is renowned for its size. It is huge and even bigger than my face! There are a couple of bakery selling melon bread in Asakusa. Kagetudo is the oldest one. There are always many people waiting in line to buy the bread. If you don’t mind paying more, you can go upstairs to find their café. You can order melon bread here, but you need to order a drink. Although I need to pay more, I prefer to eat melon bread in the café. Not only did I have the delicious bread and traditional drink, but I could also relax in this Japanese style café. Also, the atmosphere there was wonderful!
Website: http://www.asakusa-kagetudo.com/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=2
Address: 東京都台東区浅草2-7-13
TEL 03-3847-5251
Business hours: 9:00 am ~ sold out
Afternoon: Traditional costume experience
After my brunch, I couldn’t wait to go to Sakura Photo Studio to wear the traditional costume, called the Kimono (着物).
The most important thing during my trip was experiencing the Kimono.
In fact, when you walk around Asakusa, you’ll probably see a lot of people wearing traditional costumes. Most of them are foreigners! There are so many traditional costume shops here to provide Kimonos. Some of those shops also offer studio or outdoor photo shooting. Sakura blossom is a good season for Kimono and taking pictures. That is why I booked a set including Kimono, make-up and outdoor shooting in advance.
I chose Sakura Photo Studio.
Website: https://www.sakuraphotokimono.com/english/
Address: Suzuki Bld 4F 1-12-12 Kaminarimon Taito-ku, Tokyo
TEL: 070-5365-1551, 070-5011-2785
Email: sakuraphotokimono@gmail.com
Business hours: 09:30 AM~5:00 PM
The clerk assistants were very kind and friendly. They are really carefully helped me put on the Kimono correctly and did my hair and makeup.
After I was ready, the photography took me to Aasakusa temple area. The photographer is professional and can speak English well. He took 180 pictures of me. Here are some of them:
If you are interest in that, you can click here to get more details.
During the photo shoot, I told the photographer I’d like to take rickshaw. He introduced his friend to me. The driver is also professional and can speak English well. He drove me around Sumida Park (隅田公園) area. What’s more, he took so many pictures of me.
Here are the information about the driver:
The rickshaw was about one hour. When I finished that, it was about 3:30 pm. I decided to returned my Kimono at that time. After all, it wasn’t convenient for me to wear it, especially the Japanese flip-flops. ^ ^
As soon as I finished returning Kimono, I went to Ippudo Asakusa ROX・3G (一風堂 浅草ROX・3G店) to eat famous Ramen.
Website: http://www.ippudo.com/store/asakusa/
Tel: 03-6231-7739
Address: 〒111-0032 東京都台東区浅草1-26-5 浅草 ROX・3G 1F
Business hours: 10:30~23:00(L.O.22:30)
If you really like Ippudo's Ramen, you can go to 7-11 to buy Ippudo Instant Ramen. (Click here to get more details)
Dinner: ???
In fact, my meal time was completely disordered this day! I bought some Hattendo’s whipped cream bread (八天堂) in Shinagawa Station in case I would feel hungry at night.
On the other hand, no sooner had I walked into the hotel than clerk informed me I had a package. Oh! Yes! It must have been from Bicqlo! I was right! I profoundly felt Japan is a paradise of shopping.
I was exhausted on this day. Next day, I would start my sakura viewing.