Gridskipper

This past weekend I was interviewed by a travel magazine for a piece they're doing on bloggers worldwide, and so I took the writer around to a few favorite spots, which wouldn't you know it, should make for a great post here since it'll give you ideas on what to see in Aoyama and Ginza. We met at Omotesando station in Aoyama, at the Omotesando/Aoyama street crossing, before I took him to the A to Z Cafe. Then, we just crossed the street and checked out part of the "Obey Giant Vs. WK Interact" exhibition at the Agnès B. store — the main show is being held at Tokyo Wonder Sight in Shibuya. We then made our way back to Aoyama street, crossed the road, and had a look at Naoto Fukasawa's gorgeous designs at the Plusminuszero store (well worth checking out, especially for the outdoor cafe).

Then it was back to Omotesando, where we went to Nadiff. They were between exhibitions, but it's still always fun to browse through all the art books and cool art-related items (alert: great souvenir ideas), with Cafe Crépuscule serving as another cafe option. Yeah, I know, what is it with me and cafes ... Since I was telling him about the great graphic design galleries in Ginza, we hopped in a cab and started with a stop at the Ginza Graphic Gallery. We then walked to the nearby Creation Gallery G8, which was unfortunately closed (alert #2: the gallery is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). So we continued on to the Matsuya department store to have a look at the 7th floor's Design Gallery and Design Collection retail space.

You'll find more detailed design-oriented walk ideas in these areas in some previous posts (Ginza/Aoyama) I wrote a couple of years back.

— Jean Snow

[Photo: Jean Snow]