Design Festa

Design Festa is an up and coming gallery in fashionable Harajuku. Just three weeks ago, this gallery hosted one of the largest art shows in Asia. Design Festa usually hosts local Japanese artists, and the whole atmosphere of the gallery is relaxed and comfortable. There is a large outdoor cafe area where you can get a coffee or a White Russian (like I did, haha), and even a covered area where you can eat.

The gallery is a converted house so many people's gallery spaces are actually converted rooms like one woman had displayed her photography in a kitchen, another artist displayed their pieces in a bathroom, etc.

There are permanent installments like paintings on the walls which far from distracting from the current installments, lend to the gallery's feeling of warmth and relaxation. The artists are friendly, and a lot asked me to pose with their work and put it on their websites. Instead of being snobs, they are more focused on creating good pieces and getting their work out to the public.

Ichthomania

You see the Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market on many travel shows as one of the best tourists destinations in Japan. These are all untrue. While the market might be an interesting place in theory, as a tourist, you're just getting in everyone's way. You can tell that the workers are resentful as they splash buckets of brine on your legs and flick off scales onto your clothes. The market doesn't open to the public until 9:30 am and by that time, they've finished selling off all the giant tuna, the whale meat, and the dolphins, and all the sketchy stuff that could draw negative attention from the tourists. All you see is fish heads and eels, and the smell is overwhelming.

A resentful man with a knife as long as a sword. He cut off the heads of fish very menacingly

The restaurants around the area, though they boast tasty sushi and barbecued eel, are filthy and crowded. There is a smattering of shops selling overpriced tourist wares. Everything's wet, slimy, and smells horrible. I do not recommend you go to the fish market no matter how many cooking shows you watched that made it seem great.

The one good thing about Tsukiji was the cute mini shrine they had outside the market. It had two lion's heads, one black and one gold, that fell off their bodies after a big earthquake. These kitsune spirits were off to the side, and you could sit in front of them and relax as they mesmerized you with cunning eyes.

Rent-a-Neko!

Recently, I visited a Cat Cafe in Odaiba, Tokyo! It was about $7 per half hour with drink included, but there was a great variety of  cats, like Siamese, Munchkins, and Scottish Folds. You weren't allowed to pick up or harass any of the cats, and there was a list of rules to go over before you entered. Basically, as long as you weren't mean to the cats, you could hang out with them, and they would come get up on your lap and let you pet them. Renting a cat is a good way to experience having a pet without the upkeep, or if you live in an apartment that doesn't allow it. It's not like a kennel. You can't adopt one of the cats that you like, and they're all really well taken care of and not just crated all the time. The cafes open at around 7 am and most stay open until about 10 pm.

The place is very clean, and the way it smells, you wouldn't know that twenty cats live here. The cats have a lot of really nice areas to play and be cute in. There are a lot of railings and ledges and other cool things for them to climb on.

Two days ago, I visited another cafe called Prince Cat Cafe in Shimokitazawa which was much smaller, but had higher quality cats. By this I mean, the cats were a lot sweeter and better breeds (long hair Bengals, American curls, more Scottish Folds). Drinks are always included, and they have toys so you can play with the cats. As anyone who knows a crazy cat lady can attest, the smell of twenty cats is horrible, but the cafe had no smell. The floor is clean and there's no cat hair stuck to all the surfaces.

Cat cafes are the coolest when you miss your cats back at home or just aren't allowed to keep any in your apartment. Some people go everyday. It's a good place for a date, or just to hang out with your friends, or with your cat friends, haha!

Visit the website to get a good idea of what kind of cats are offered and what kind of place the cat cafe is.

http://www.cat-prince.com/