Gakugeidaigaku













Oooo I love Gakuegeidaigaku.
Even saying it out loud is fun. Go on. Try it. Gaku-gei-dai-gaku. You love it!
Okay I promise this is my last Toyku Toyoko Line suburb! And what a goodie to end on!
Gakugeidaigaku is a quiet little suburban town with lots of winding alleyways dotted with mikan trees, a second hand bookshop or two, one of Tokyo's hippest hotels, and of course no town would be Hello-Sandwich-Fan-Club complete without some lovely zakka shops! Best yet, Gakugeidaigaku is mamachari-riding distance from Nakameguro, Jiyugaoka and Shibuya. Hello Perfect Suburb!



Pretty Hiki-chan!


Claska rooftop





It helped that I had the best Gakugeidaigaku tour guide ever who took me to the wonderful Baden Baden Interior shop.

BADEN BADEN
2-31-7 Chuo-chu, Meguro-ku







Hiki-chan also took me to best second hand book shop where I got Banana Yoshimoto + Yoshitomo Nara's Argentine Hag book and one of Ryoji Arai-san's children's book for less than $15AUD. ありがとう　ひきーちゃん！



You will love Gakugeidaigaku I'm sure!
Love Love
Hello (omote)Sando
xxx

Jiyugaoka



Another favourite suburb on the Tokyu Toyoko Line (which is fast becoming my new favourite train line after the JR Yamanote-sen) is Jiyugaoka.

I met here recently with Hiki-chan of Jollygoo blog who was kind enough to take me on a wonderful zakka and craft store tour of this sweet little town. Hiki-chan later emailed me personalised 'Hello Sandwich Jiyugaoka Zakka Tour' map pin pointing all of the shops we visited! Ooo what a sweetheart she is! (ありがとう　ひきーちゃん！）

To live in Jiyugaoka, as my friend Martin puts it, you have to be 40+, have a small dog, and like French style! There are also some other areas of Jiyugaoka that cater for a younger market. Plus the zakka shops and cafes here are to die for!





CAFE IKANIKA
6-40-7 Todoroki Setagaya-ku

My favourite part of the Hiki-chan / Hello Sandwich special tour was a delicious lunch at one of Hiki-chan's favourite Tokyo cafes. Ikanika cafe is owned by a lovely husband and wife team and is such a delightful option for lunch. Sweet soft music, Japanese natural style interior, and delicious, beautifully presented teishoku lunch sets. You can see more photos of Ikanika taken by Hiki-chan and her amazing camera here.





Ikanika cafe dry their vegetables outside by sunlight every day.








Joel does this look familiar?

I would really recommend stopping by Jiyugaoka if you are in the area!

Love Love
Hello Sando
xxx

Kichijoji and Koenji




Kichijoji and Koenji are two quaint little Western-Tokyo suburbs just 10 minutes apart from each other by train. Spend the afternoon wondering through their little alleyways, sipping your vending machine hot green tea as you go along (and a sneaky Pocky or two!), and enjoy discovering charming little shops tucked deep within each little lane. Koenji is great for second hand and vintage clothing stores, live music venues and thrift stores, and Kichijoji is a homewares + zakka-lovers haven. Miyazaki fans will not want to miss the Studio Ghibli museum tucked in the west garden of Inokashira Park in Kichijoji. Both suburbs are packed with kawaii cafes and cheap and cheerful restaurant options so it's super easy to make a day (and night) out of it.























All images above: Hattifnatt Cafe

HATTIFNATT CAFE
2-18-10 Koenji kita, Suginami-ku

Duck as you enter through the teeny tiny kids size door into this tree-house-themed cafe in Koenji. Hattifnatt cafe is sure to bring out your inner child with it's hand painted forest wall murals and loft style tree house dining area. Adorable too, are the hand crocheted stool covers and blanket stitched fabric menu. My advice? Try the Avocado Taco Rice.





TOO TICKI
2-18-11 Koenji kita, Suginami-ku

Next door to Hattifnatt cafe, and ran by the same clever team, is a sweet little craft shop called Too Ticki. Here you can pick up treasures such as patchwork pencil cases, hand carved stamps, button hair clips and hand printed cards handmade from all around the world. Shop layout...think cubby holes!










IL CAFE
2-8-2-3F Honcho, Musashino-shi, Kichijoji

An afternoon Baileys coffee at Il Cafe? Onegaishimasu~! Also pop on down to the 2F for a peek in the mini zakka shop and sister cafe Il Cappetit. You will love their very Japanese hand-illustrated menu and menu board!







Also worth visiting: Karel Capek Teatime Shop, Cafe Apartment (a cute cafe based on a 1DK Japanese apartment) and Wickie homewares + zakka shop. More information about these will be in the Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide which will be launched at the MCA Zine Fair this May!




Thank you so much for your interest in the Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide everyone! I can't wait to show you!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Nakameguro






Nakameguro, located on the Tokyu Toyoko Line or the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, is one of my favourite Tokyo suburbs. Here you can stroll along the cherry blossom lined canal, flick through art books (in English!), buy vintage clothes by weight (more about these places in Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide coming soon) and eat organic food from Kyoto at Aoya. Potentially Tokyo's hippest suburb, Nakameguro is super popular with designers, artists, musicians and all round creative types and is, perhaps, the best suburb to ride around on your (rented?) Mamachari.






BONILL CAFE
1-15-8 Aobadai, Nakameguro-ku, Tokyo

Bonill is a clothing select shop by day and quaint little cafe+bar by night. Definitely worth popping in.






Photograph courtesy of Martin Evamy


Photograph courtesy of Martin Evamy

AOYA
1-15-10 Aobadai, Nakameguro, Tokyo.

Aoya is a charming little cafe located in a Showa-era house tucked deep into Nakameguro's backstreets. Although it can be a little tricky to find (look out for the lantern just down the road from Bonill), you won't want to miss the 1200yen lunch set. The five grain rice here is to die for!






PASSE COMPOSE
1-1-52 Naka-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

Pop into Passe Compose if you are in the market for some sweet French homewares and home accessories. Well, you can never have too many polka dot tea pots right?


More Tokyo tips like this will be in my Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide coming soon! The Hello Sandwich guide will come complete with maps to make it much easier to get about! Phew!

Love Love
Hello Sando
xxx

Shimokitazawa









SHIMOKITAZAWA

If you like used clothing, vintage, thrift, zakka and antique stores then Shimokitazawa (or Shimokita) is the Tokyo suburb for you! Shimokita is a sweet little neighbourhood located in Setagaya-ku, only a few train stops away from Shibuya. In Tokyo questionnaire surveys about where young people want to live, Shimokitazawa is always one of the top three responses. It's packed with teeny tiny six-seater bars, adorable cafes, loads of cheap and cheerful restaurants, vintage and retro clothing stores, live music venues, secondhand record stores, homewares and vintage stores and is generally known for trendsetting in youth culture. Come here if you fancy an afternoon wondering around people spotting, stay until sundown, have a G+T at Mois cafe, and try some delicious okonomiyaki.







LOTTY
2-26-13 PACKAGE ONE 1F Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

I think Lotty is my absolute ichi-ban favourite vintage clothing store in Shimokita. The store styling is just adorable and the selection of items just perfect! Think vintage embroidered trims, retro postcards, crocheted throws and cushion covers, 1950's glassware and a huge selection of vintage clothing.















SOU
2-37-2 1F Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.

One shop not to miss in Shimokita is Sou. Stock up here on MT tape, katakana + hiragana wooden stamps, hand-made fabric pocket tissue cases, Mori girls fashion pieces and loads of other zakka essentials. Also worth a trip for the custom made calendar given free to customers. I still have my one from 2008 up on my studio wall it's so cute. Perhaps it's time to replace it with my new 2010 one (below).

Sou is part of a family of three stores along with Five and Ten and Khopchai. You can shop online at all three of them at Five and Ten.






COMMUNE
2-33-6 2F Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.

Commune is a mini-me shop stocking zines, art, and unique handmade goods along side it's teeny tiny gallery space. Look at these ear-rings (literally) that I found in there. Don't worry if you are not going to Tokyo any time soon, you can shop online here.



(Above Mois image special thanks to 8tokyo)



MOIS CAFE
2-21-26 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Fancy an iced caramel latte? Lemon tea? Or just a regular coffee and cake? Or are you more a G+T and mixed vegetable plate type of person? Well fear not as Mois café has it all. Set inside a two storey old Japanese style house, this café is a super cool place to relax after rummaging through Shimokita’s vintage clothes stores. Cool electro music playing softly. Uber-cute Japanese peeps speaking as softly as the music. Couches and tables. Sneak peek online here or here.


Gracie's Mini Tokyo Potted Garden inside her Shimokita apartment

More Tokyo tips like this will be in my Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide coming soon! The Hello Sandwich guide will come complete with maps to make it much easier to get about! Phew!

Love Love
Hello Sando
xxx

Hello Sandwich Tokyo







Hello Sandwiches!

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been off sick with a really horrible flu which has left me feeling pretty sorry for myself but today I finally got some antibiotics which should help me feel better soon (Thank you everyone for your well wishes on Twitter too! xxx).

I've now sorted my Tokyo pics into suburbs, because, guess what, I'm currently putting together a HELLO SANDWICH TOKYO GUIDE. eeeep! I can't count the amount of times people have asked me for Tokyo tips so I thought it might be time to start making it easy for people!

The guide is a little while off so I'm going to share a little sneak peek with you over the next few weeks as I post about a few of my favourite suburbs such as Nakameguro, Gakugei-daigaku, Jiyugaoka, Koenji, Kichijoji, Daikanyama and Shibuya. First up is Shimokitazawa, but before that can I please just share a few fun Tokyo shots?