Our neighbourhood mapping method centres on walking the streets and experiencing the city viscerally. Each route we design is joined by a series of milestones: outdoor shopping streets, shrines, and parks, certainly, but also coffee shops, cafés, and restaurants. Consequently, we have spent perhaps as much time within Tokyo’s interiors as on its streets during the past week’s research.

In the process, we’ve found ourselves drawn to independent, owner-operated establishments. These are lived-in spaces, built slowly, often over decades. They tend to occupy small footprints, yet are deeply imbued with character. It is a form of intimacy in which this city excels.

Last week’s newsletter concluded with the suggestion of doors waiting to be opened. We have been busy doing just that, and we return this week with some of our impressions of what we have found inside.