Izu-Oshima is a small island which takes about two and a half hours by speedboat from the center of Tokyo. It is 120km away, but still is "Tokyo". The island welcomes you with a distinctive landscape, having Mt.Mihara, a sacred volacano at the center. Travelers will fully realize how small they are facing the majestic landscape of Izu-Oshima.

Calm and quiet place to drink tea and enjoy a nice conversation.

Casual sushi bar in Kichijoji Harmonica Yokocho. Lunch special: 1,000 yen for an omakase sushi plate. 

Citylight Book at Yoyogi-uehara is the type of independent bookstore where I would wish to hang every week. It opens in the afternoon and runs through late night as a bookstore, as well as a meet-up place, a bar for book lovers. Founded by Kaminaga-san, a veteran who had worked with publishing industry for many years before creating his own version of bookstore, this is a cool place to browse for new titles of books and magazines of a wide range of genres/topics. The second floor works as a nice study room too. CABO, the mix place where the bookstore is located also offers other original selection of snack bar and fine dining. You can easily drift in and out, encountering interesting souls in the hood. I had a book launch and talk event here in May, 2024. It's been such a wonderful experience, good crowd and good vibes only! 

There are many long-established good Japanese buckwheat noodle restaurants in Kanda. "Kanda Yabusoba" was founded in 1880. Soba is Japanese brown noodle made from buckwheat flour. Generally, it is eaten cold after being dipped in a soy-flavored sauce. Kanda is also famous as a city for secondhand bookstores. You should take a walk to look for the books you like after eating Soba.