Welcome to the first Travel Vibe tour diary. Each month Aussie producer TP (Tom Piper. No, not toilet paper!) who is part owner of new Aussie label Medium Rare Recordings, will be giving you the lowdown on a city that he’s been too! Tom assures us, he won’t be delving into normal tourist stuff; just the real ‘freshness’ – clubs, shops, food and anything obscurely cool. If you’re planning to go to Tokyo or just interested in other cities then let TP bring you up to vibe.

TP Destination: TOKYO

I’m starting this series off with Tokyo – I love Japan. The people, the culture, the food, all the half futuristic crazy sickness… I could probably write forever about it about it! Everyone has their own journeys, but I’ll try and narrow down some of my personal tings for you..

TP Shopping Vibe

I think Shibuya is maybe thought of as the main place for shopping and it’s dope, but nearly everyone has also heard of Harajuku and what you’ve heard is pretty much true! To be fair, there’s shopping allover but Harajuku always lives up to my expectation of siiiiick local & international clothes, dope vintage gear and an array of Japanese street culture. This is where I go to shop in Tokyo – usually multiple visits each trip. If you get off at Harajuku station you could start at Takeshita Street, but it’s full of cheap crap. All the real sickness is deeper in the alleyways further down so I always come out of the station, turn right, walk down the main road past Nike for a quick look, then turn left into an alley just after the first big intersection. There’ll probably be a mental cue for Eggs’n’Things, walk in there and prepare for sickness! There are usually Tokyo exclusives at many of the stores!

Tip: Instead of catching the train you can walk to Harajuku from Shibuya (or vice versa); there are dope shops all the way. Black Scale, for example, is closer to Shibuya and they def have sick Tokyo exclusives there!

Food Vibe

Numerous unconnected, unbiased locals have taken me to HARAJUKUGYOZARO and proclaimed it as the best gyoza in Tokyo. I’m inclined to agree. It’s sort of hard to find but well worth it, it’s in Harajuku. TEN-ICHI Ginza has the best tempura I’ve ever had, next next next!! OMAE XEX Roppongi Hills is ridiculously good, but expensive tepenyaki. AKIRA yakitori is amazing, was a mission for us to get to but it’s a popular local vibe and recommended by heaps of peeps.

I guess you cannot go to Japan without trying their sushi, but I won’t go on and on about it. For ultra pimp try KYUBEY Ginza, or for sick as but not $300 a head you could try ITAMAE Roppongi. I’m going to try and get to Jiro’s or one of his crew’s joints when im there next. To be honest though, there is amazing sushi/food everywhere. Make sure you try the top grade Tuna, it’s costs a little more but its next as, never had anything better in Australia.

For a quick snack that’s a tinny more standard try MOS BURGER or FRESHNESS BURGER.. MB uses rice instead of bread in some of its burgers & FB seems like a cross between Maccas & Subway to me lol!! Lord Styalz Feugo just reminded me to also mention all the cool coffee joints, hit up STREAMER COFFEE CO… It’s worth trying to find all these, go forth!

Tip: I wouldn’t go to any of those ‘themed’ restaurants for a proper dinner, food is usually pretty average but they are def good for drinks and lols – I’d still go haha.

Club Vibe

WOMB!!! You must go here if you’re in Tokyo and fancy yourself as a bit of a clubber. It’s in Shibuya on a hill surrounded by love hotels; you can walk there from Shibuya train station. Different music each night, so check their website for your vibe. There are a few different levels and rooms, the production in the main room is wicked… the floor must be full of subs?? One of the best clubs for me!

AGEHA also looks psycho as – I haven’t been, just heard dope things from friends. It fits like 5000 people and there is a free shuttle bus from Shibuya!!

Tip: Womb & AgeHa are proper sick big clubs. There are lots of smaller clubs around but do some research before and look up where you’re going to make sure is what your looking for. I’m off to play a few shows in September and the Tokyo gig is at Module, ill report back when I return hood ☺

Bonus Vibe

Golden Gai – It’s a bunch of alleyways with heaaaaps of mini bars that fit no more that 10 people, some like 5 people. It’s fucking cool and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Must go, Shinjuku.

Akihabara – This is the electronic district. I’m a nerd-geek-techno mofo so I love this place, it might not be right for all. Heaps of shops with gadgets, video games, toys and so forth; I bought a robot dog here. Check out a maid café; MAID DREAMIN’ is probably an easy one to find, but don’t go with a hangover or sourboy Daniel Farley. I’d get a beer/drink set and save food for one of the Food Vibes I mentioned earlier.

Extra Extra – Speaking of Maid Cafés, there is so much cool and cracked stuff all over. I have a few things that spring to mind. There is a bar run by Monkeys; Love Hotels; Cat/Dog/Owl cafes; 24-hour Donki stores that sell everything from Rolex’s to toilet paper; Taito Game Stations with psycho arcade and pachinko machines you’ve never seen before… so much cool stuff you can only find in Japan!

Sumo

It’s not on all year round, so if you are lucky enough to be in Tokyo whenit’s on you should def go! I’ve been twice now and both times it’s been amazing! Book in advance before you get to Japan for sick seats.

Training

The trains, subways, everything are mad easy! You won’t believe how simple it is ‘til you get there. Enquire about JR & Tokyo Rail passes to save coin but be aware that the pass will only work for some lines, as the different train lines through out Tokyo are run by different companies. If you’re going to Tokyo have a sick time and if you have any Q’s feel free to hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. Stay tuned for next months Travel Vibes on Seoul, thanks for reading, Tomson.