Gridskipper.com looks like a
very interesting travel site, one which stresses style, design, and
good food , but in an accessible, non-snobby way. Its postings includes
handy embedded Google Maps, allowing you to see exactly where the
places it talks about are.
Well, not exactly.
For its Tokyo entries -- a city where most of the streets don't have
names and business cards often include maps -- Gridskipper falls down
completely, as those entries have no maps.
In Japan, maps are practically mandatory, since the
street address system is more of a co-ordinate system, and giving the
English names isn't much help when the local street maps are written in
kanji. A determined person can eventually ferret out where
places are -- phone numbers, being the same in English or Japanese, are
a great help -- put someone there needs to get on the ball there.
So hence this experiment. I'm going to try to make some maps myself. The one on the right is for a recent item:
Coffee Saloon Kimoto
This morning I went to quite possibly the smallest cafe I've ever seen. Coffee Saloon Kimoto
(1-5-1 Yakumo, 03-3717-5687 -- it's just a few minutes walk from
Toritsu Daigaku station on the Toyoko line) takes its tiny triangle
shape from the its allotted land plot, which was quite literally
crammed between two neighboring buildings.
Featured in Japanese architectural firm Atelier Bow-Wow's book
it's a perfect example of urban development contributing to the
creation of unusual spaces. Coffee Saloon Kimoto is even more than just
an instance of innovative architecture,
it's a cozy little cafe. And I mean really small -- barely larger than
the typical American bathroom -- but it will put a smile on your face
as you walk in and are greeted by the owner, Mr. Kimoto, and his wife,
and take one of the seven available seats.
Map Legend
都立大学 = Toritsudaigaku station
八雲1丁目5−1= 1-5-1 Yakumo, the address
東急東横線 = Toyoko Line, from Shibuya (渋谷), six stops out and between Gakugeidaigaku and Jiyūgaoka stations.
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