PLANNING a trip to Japan is a mouth-watering experience. There is so much to see and do (and eat!) that it would take a lifetime of holidays to really get a feel for the place. Skiing, walking, water sports, mountaineering, shopping, clubbing, culture – the list of activities is endless but for an initial foray into the enigma of the Land of the Rising Sun, a trip to Tokyo and Kyoto will whet your appetite for many trips to come.
Arriving at Tokyo at night
Tokyo is a shock to the senses so a little pampering and planning makes for good therapy. Air France provides a useful night flight into the capital from Paris so as to arrive rested and ready for an evening of instant immersion in Tokyo’s fervid nightlife. Glide from the airport to your hotel in a limousine with Blacklane, saving your energy for what is to come; you’ll need it.
Keio Plaza’s Towers soar above the city
It’s best to stay in the pulsing heart of the metropolis, swaddled by the organisational nous that makes living bearable in an intensely compacted city of thirteen million bodies. The 1,450-room Keio Plaza Hotel hits the mark: a two-tower colossus, running as smoothly as clockwork, with a rooftop pool, some two dozen food and drink outlets, a shopping mall, beauty parlours – the list goes on. Rooms are large by Japanese standards and come with soft cotton sleepwear as well as a one-piece, light-fitting cotton robe (yukata)that will have you rushing to a store called Oriental Bazaar to purchase them for yourself and friends.
Keio Plaza towers by night
For a cultural experience without leaving your hotel, Keio Plaza’s Soujuan restaurant opens a window on Japanese cuisine. Austere but beautiful, with a serene indoor garden of rocks and bamboo, the restaurant is traditional in style and serves the formal nine-course kaiseki meal. Not gargantuan in quantity, kaiseki is as much an artistic experience as a dining one. Each tiny dish is served in exquisite tableware with no two plates or bowls alike and you are gently introduced to items that you may not have considered food before: sea urchin, canola blossom, kelp, lily root.
The serenity of Soujian’s indoor garden
The city is a wonder of different food styles and dining choices and Motif, at the tiny Four Seasons Hotel, provides an imaginative combination of Japanese and French cuisine in a 10-course kaiseki that matches the miniature with the massive – giant clams, a sea urchin dish looking like a tiny cappuccino – locally-caught scallops that dwarf those you’re familiar with, miniscule side dishes. The restaurant is situated high above bustling Tokyo’s central railway station, with views of night trains sliding in and out like illuminated creatures of the night.
Exquisite presentation at Chez Olivier shows the influence of Japanese culture in his cooking
Sooner or later, the need for the familiar becomes imperative and the cosy, out- of-the-way Chez Olivier, run by chef and owner Olivier Oddos, brings a little bit of France back into your life. Serving only seven tables, Oliver uses fresh organic Japanese and French sourced ingredients to create a lovely menu with prices you’d struggle to find in London. Being here is a treat when high-rise views have become passé and you yearn for a quiet atmosphere and a glass of French wine.
The inverted wine cellar at Dazzle resturant
For an insight into Tokyo’s sophisticated dining scene, without paying silly amounts of money, step along to the strangely designed Mikimoto building and Dazzle. Everything about the place is designed to stun – dazzle, I suppose — from the lift which opens up into a bustling kitchen rather than the dining room itself to the huge eight- metre-high wine cellar looking like an upturned glass cone. Darkly lit and inhabited by black- clothed staff looking super cool, this place serves Japanese-Italian fusion food to the sound of jazz. If it’s still on the menu, go for the fried foie gras with chocolate flakes and expresso sauce. Eccentric but wonderful.
Going down into the Tokyo metro for the first time can be exciting and confusing
More than a few days in Tokyo without a break is enough to make you stir-crazy and bring on a psychotic aversion to crowds. Time to make use of a Japan Rail Pass and hop on a bullet train for a two-hour, 320-mile journey to Kyoto. Putting the UK’s railways to shame, the trains are comfortable and roomy and offer little snapshots of Japanese life as they speed past tiny farms, small towns and the glorious Mount Fuji, covered in snow most of the year.
Motif Restaurant overlooking Tokyo station
The contrast between the two cities could not be greater. Where Tokyo soars into the sky, Kyoto is low rise; the capital had to be rebuilt after World War II while Kyoto escaped bombing and preserves its ancient shrines and temples. Where the Keio Plaza glories in its 21st-century height and size, the Ritz Carlton copies traditional designs and sits quietly on the banks of the River Kamogawa.
The low-rise Ritz Carlton graces the banks of the river
Rooms overlook the river or garden while some have views over the city. The superb spa includes a 20- metre pool and, like the Keio Plaza, offers cooking classes, cycle tours, craft workshops and more, all designed to bring the culture of the city to you. In the evening and at lunchtime the breakfast room becomes La Locanda, low ceiling-ed and with an open kitchen delivering modern Italian food in an elegant setting.
A traditional Japanese style informs the entrance to Suiran
On the outskirts of the city, Suiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel Kyoto is as close as you’ll come to the traditional ryokan style accommodation without the futons and communal bath houses. Recreated from two older buildings, adding a modern wing, this small and intimate hotel has a scenic location on the banks of the River Hozu.
The Hozu River
It is overlooked by the range of mountains that surround Kyoto and is close to a bamboo grove and some significant temples. Suiran’s restaurant serves a kaiseki-style dinner, somewhat adapted to western tastes, with lovely garden and mountain views offering zen moments of contemplation between the series of dishes.
A Kaiseki meal is as much art as it is cuisine
A visit to Japan is a fascinating experience. Its people are calm and kind and everywhere there is an attention to detail which makes your visit a special one. You will return determined to recreate that calmness and detail in your own life, to prepare food with the care taken over a Kaiseki meal, and above all to start planning your next trip
by Sean Sheehan
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.