Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2024 – Leaving Tokyo

Before leaving Tokyo, I went back to the National Museum of Modern Art, in Takebashi, where I enjoyed seeing some old favorites, notably a Foujita self-portrait with a cat, and the famous portrait by Ryusei Kishida of his five-year-old daughter Reiko, which I hadn't realized is actually a painting of a painting of the young girl. There was also an exhibition of textile designs going on. I noticed a woman in a kimono looking at a pair of yukata in the show with designs apparently derived from the hiragana script.

Afterwards, I met former work colleagues for lunch at a Thai restaurant we used to frequent. After lunch, we moved on for tea and Oban-yaki (grilled batter filled with sweet bean paste). Walking around Takebashi near the Palace moat, I noticed that almost the entire moat frontage there has been rebuilt since I was last in Japan.

Before leaving Tokyo for Sado, I enjoyed an excellent (and reasonably priced) sushi dinner at Sushiko along with my son and a friend of his. We had to line up and wait outside for about 40 minutes, but it was worth the wait.