Premium Yebisu label

Yebisu (or Ebisu), the little, fat fisherman on the label of a bottle of Yebisu beer (left), is the Japanese god of fishermen. Actually, he has a few jobs. He is also god of good luck and workingmen. In his spare time he is the guardian of the health of small children.

Yebisu is my favourite Japanese beer so this called for a visit to Beer Museum Yebisu. And when I heard that they offered up a beer tasting tray at the tour finale I locked in my date with the fat fisherman and headed to the museum located at Yebisu Garden Place in Ebisu.

Let me get the important history bits out of the way before I move on to the beer. If I could take anything away from the history of the Yebisu beer it is the satisfaction in knowing that, in 40 years, the Yebisu beer girl has maintained a consistent cuteness.

Yebisu Girl 1968

Yebisu Girl 2008

Read more »

Tōkyō Tower (東京タワー, Tōkyō-tawā) is 13 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, so Ash and I embarked on an expedition to check it out. Before we made tracks, I had shown him a couple of photos of the tower in an attempt to cultivate a pre-expedition buzz. However, on the road, everytime we passed a construction site that had an orange crane, Ash would yell “Look Daddy, Tōkyō Tower!”.

Tokyo Tower

We caught the Hanzōmon metro line from Shibuya to Aoyama-itchōme station where we changed onto the Toei Ōedo subway line bound for Akabanebashi station. It was a short walk from the station. Arriving at the tower I grabbed our tickets.

Ushered to the elevator we were crammed in for a 150 metre ascent to the Main Observatory. Alighting from the elevator we were confronted with a spectacular panoramic view of Tōkyō.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

Visitors can also continue up to the Special Observatory at 250 meters. Under good weather conditions, Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance.

Read more about Tokyo Tower

Early November 2008, a mysterious fast-food restaurant called Quarter Pounder appeared in two specialty locations in Tokyo. Just weeks before both locations were McDonald’s restaurants however the Quarter Pounder restaurant had suddenly emerged in their place. There was much fanfare and people queued in long orderly lines as word got out that the Quarter Pounder was the thing to try.

The Quarter Pounder stores had minimalistic décor and no sign of brand or markings to indicate that these new stores were affiliated with McDonald’s. All of the old wall coverings, fixtures and furniture and had been removed and the interior had been painted black and red, giving it a cabaret club look.

It is worth noting that the Quarter Pounder has not been available in Japanese McDonald’s restaurants for almost 30 years.

Quarter Pounder storefront

A queue at the QP store

Quarter Pounder service counter

Quarter Pounder meal

Read more »

Next Page »