A hot day between Tokyo Station and Nihonbashi, with a friend and shaved ice
The plan was lunch and a walk near the Imperial Palace. The heat changed that plan, and a day with a friend took Haruru from Tokyo Station to Nihonbashi for shaved ice, then back to the station for a rest and another conversation.
A personal account of a meeting in Tokyo, alongside a separate note about the cake prepared for it.
A banana cake before the meeting
Before the outing, Haruru made a banana cake with plenty of shima bananas and cinnamon. Her photographs show round banana slices across the tops of three cakes in paper moulds, with a note identifying the bananas as coming from Okinawa.
The cakes turned out larger than she had expected. She hoped her friend would enjoy the gift, while looking forward to their second meeting after becoming friends on Instagram.
Finding the fish lunch inside Tokyo Station
Haruru was in charge of choosing lunch. She had eaten there with her sister before and remembered the food fondly, but finding her way through Tokyo Station took several wrong turns.
Eventually they reached the restaurant with Kindai written on its navy curtain. The photographed meal brings together sashimi, grilled fish, small dishes and soup. Her friend enjoyed the choice too, which made the wandering worthwhile.
The heat changes the walk
After lunch, the heat put an end to the planned walk near the Imperial Palace. Instead, the two walked towards Nihonbashi.
A photograph of Tokyo Station keeps the red-brick building beneath a bright blue sky. On a day that hot, stopping for something cold became a welcome part of the outing.
Shaved ice and a matcha parfait at Tsuruya Yoshinobu
At Tsuruya Yoshinobu, they ordered a shaved ice each. One photograph shows orange slices against a mound of orange-coloured ice; another holds green ice with beans and shiratama rice-flour dumplings.
A matcha parfait looked tempting enough to add. Haruru ended up eating almost all of it herself, and the sweets left her feeling quite full.
A seat, mango pudding and more conversation
Back at Tokyo Station, they looked for another café. Everywhere they tried was full, and after all the walking they rested on chairs near the Gin-no-suzu meeting point.
Later they came across Taiwan 101. Haruru asked whether it was all right to stop just for dessert, and that day it was. They had a set with mango pudding, one shumai and one xiaolongbao each, and kept talking until it was suddenly time to part.
A promise to meet again, and souvenirs to take home
They left with a plan to meet for daytime drinks another time. What stayed with Haruru was the pleasure of the conversation and the thought that each person could keep moving forward in her own way.
Her souvenir photographs include packaged sweets and jellies labelled yuzu, satsuma mandarin and lemon. The notes of thanks beside them bring the day to a gentle close.
Sources for this account
Haruru's personal notes about the planned meeting, the banana cake and the day in Tokyo, edited and shared with her permission.