If I were to take a stroll through the quaint East Tokyo area, what would I wear and who would I be with? As I stroll through the cityscape, bathed in the beautiful spring sunshine and filled with the slow pace of time, I am reminded of the soft voice of Yuko Ando, singing, "We'll always walk side by side, hand in hand, down this road of red flowers."

It's already been 10 years since the release of "Merry Andrew," the album containing "Nouzenkatsura," but her innocent aura remains undiminished. In fact, it even seems as though her clarity has only grown with age. Perhaps it's because by playing with music and reflecting on herself, she's learned to soar more freely.

Alongside her, clad in a gorgeous kimono and sporting a gentle smile, we set off on a tour of the famous shops that adorn East Tokyo.

■ Everyday items that add color to your life at Matsunoya, a store located in Yanaka

Our first stop was Matsunoya, a store stocking simple everyday items made by artisans in local factories and rural areas. Since its founding in 1945, Matsunoya has been a hardware wholesaler that handles everything from wholesale to manufacturing of "everyday tools" that are reasonably priced and easy to use on a daily basis, born from "making things that are nice, not the best or better."



The shop opened its retail store in Yanaka in 2010. Due to the recent rise in popularity of Yanesen, the shop owner says that it attracts many young customers on weekends. "Items that may seem nostalgic to older customers seem fresh to younger customers," the owner explains.

The shop is filled with a wide variety of items, from nostalgic yet elegant celluloid trinket boxes to original canvas bags and Japanese brooms. Ando picked up a wooden lunch box first, exclaiming in admiration, "This is lovely!" I learned that she makes lunch for her 4-year-old every morning. "Right now, I'm giving her a Sofia (Disney character) lunch box," she said with a smile.



But then, upon spotting the anodized aluminum tray set, she exclaimed with a childlike expression, "Those are school lunch dishes! I'm so nostalgic!" Incidentally, all of the anodized aluminum kitchenware and tableware in the store are reasonably priced and easy to use, around 2,000 yen, so it might be worth buying a bunch to elevate your kitchen.



[Store Information]
Yanaka Matsunoya Living Tools
3-14-14 Nishi-Nippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo
03 (3823) 7441
Hours: Mon, Wed-Fri 11:00-19:00
Sat, Sun, and Holidays 10:00-19:00
Closed: Tuesdays (open on holidays)
http://www.yanakamatsunoya.jp/

■Our first store is in Nigeria! Enjoy a smoothie at "imena" in the back alleys of Yanaka

Next, we headed to "imena," a smoothie specialty shop located just down the alley behind Matsunoya. The Yanaka store is the shop's second, the first being in Nigeria. imena's smoothies use ingredients sourced from developing countries, including baobab from Senegal, honey from Nepal, and ginger from Nigeria.



Imena was started by three middle and high school classmates. One of them had been interested in poverty issues in developing countries since his student days, which led to the opening of this smoothie specialty shop. "If more people start drinking our smoothies every day because they're delicious and healthy, it will generate income for the developing countries that provide us with the ingredients," he explains. There are many intriguing menu items, such as "Green Power" (550 yen), which allows you to get plenty of nutritious vegetables such as spinach and carrots, and "Koji Spring" (640 yen/spring only), which is a mix of amazake, also known as a "drinkable IV drip," with fruit and milk.



Ando chose the "Mango Coconut Toconut" (660 yen), which combines tropical fruits like mango and pineapple with coconut milk and aloe. "This smoothie is layered, so you can enjoy a variety of textures," she said, savoring the different flavors depending on where she places her straw. Furthermore, he said, "I've never really taken the time to walk around East Tokyo before, but it's a great place to stroll around, with stores selling traditional items and trendy stores like this one. Looking around, I see a lot of foreign tourists, but I think they'll be happy to be able to buy things they can use in their everyday lives while also experiencing Japanese culture." It seems he also liked the atmosphere of the town itself.



[Store Information]
Imena
3-14-6 Nishi-Nippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo
03 (3486) 5496
Hours: 11:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Closed: Mondays (Tuesdays if Monday falls on a public holiday)
http://imena-smoothies.com/



松本玲子