A concert. In stereo.
My Japanese friend Nobu took me to one of the most bizarre places I’ve been to in Japan on the weekend. Lion Music Hall Shibuya is a place to drink coffee and listen to classical music. However, it is the classical music that is the focus. The seating is arranged concert hall style, facing the front, where a large bank of oldish (but good) speakers are placed. On the ground floor, you can see their large collection of LPs and CDs from which they source their “concerts.” You can also put in requests for the music that you want to listen to. The music hall is very old, apparently it has remained unaltered for maybe more than 50 years. Inside, people chat in hushed tones, or listen in reverential silence. The atmosphere is very cool, the place hasn’t been renovated in years, and is decorated in a musty European ersatz that only the Japanese could muster. One assumes it’s a hark back to the time when records might have been rare or access to classical music culture a privilege. Whatever, it’s a definite must for anyone wanting to experience something old-school and, presumably, uniquely Japanese.
Oh yeah, it’s DARK in there. And no flash allowed. Soz about the photo.
I also went today to Cold Stone Creamery in Roppongi Hills, the first Tokyo bastion I believe of this West Coast American ice cream chain. They have two gimmicks that I can detect: one, your ice cream is mixed on a marble slab with various toppings of your own selection, and two, the staff will sing for you if you tip them. Japanese people (and obviously me as well) being suckers for anything foreign and novel, were queueing to ridiculous lengths to obtain this ice cream. I joined them and waited 80 minutes, but when I got back out, the line was nearly twice as long. And was it good? Choc ice cream + pecans + caramel fudge + brownie = yum. 
