Japan Centre

Today, I visited the Japan Centre London. It's on Piccadilly, almost right across the street from the Japanese embassy, quite a few Japanese places in that part of town, I like it. I get to practice my Japanese (I'm currently taking lessons) and read seemingly crazy language and decipher it. It's even one of the places where you can buy the famous Japan rail pass (Not valid on the Nozumi trains :)) in the travel centre (not so much a centre, more of a cupboard)

First of all is the door itself. As you might imagine, it is red. A very nice shade of red common in Asian cultures with the obligatory cute anime characters in the window.





Although on closer examination, I'm not so sure the guy holding onto Totoro is happy, terrified might be more apt. (I'm not so good at the Japanese characters, I know most of the hiragana characters, and notice the character for 'no' in there)



Anyway, the Japan Centre is well-known for its cheap yet substantial food. Check the prices, you get so much more than in M&S or Waitrose and the quality is on a par with wasabi. The smell as you walk in of a slightly fishy, slightly seaweedy smell is almost intoxicating. It's very addictive and I hope that Japan itself smells like that. The place is always packed out with hungry office workers queuing up for the sushi. Japanese ex-patriates frequent the place too for their groceries so it must be good.







Downstairs is the bookstore, full of all sorts of Japanese magazines with people trying to look like westerners and not doing so well. I was tempted to buy this one called 'potato' though. Simply so I could see what it was all about.




I also saw this, I wasn't quite sure what it was, I was in a bit of a rush, but it looks pretty nonetheless.



And my two favourite books are here. I am a cat, a book about being a cat. And the Japanese guide to busking.





(Obglitory pokemon photo)



Back on the top floor, is the tea section. They sell everything to do with tea you could possibly want, teapots, tea, teacups, saucers, and a guide to green tea (called ochai, in roman-ji)







And last of all, is a photo of some attractive boxes of some sort. I was busy helping a friend decipher the hiragana, of limited use as you can imagine when it's mixed up with katakana and the other two alphabets used in Japan.

I love the Japan centre, it's great for immersing yourself in the language, just today two elderlyJapanese ladies were searching for a specific brand of tea, arguing about where their tea was, it was great and totally decipherable, even to a novice like me.

Here's the Japan Centre link for those interested in learning more.