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22.6.15

Rokujigen 'Six Dimensions' - Haruki Murakami Cafe


The thing I most wanted to do in Tokyo was find Rokujigen, which translates from the Japanese to 'six dimensions' - it is also known as the unofficial 'Haruki Murakami' cafe. I am a huge fan of Murakami, I've been avidly reading his novels for the past couple of months, he is the most enchanting storyteller. I saved this activity for the last day, as my flight wasn't until late at night so I basically had the whole day before I had to travel to the airport. As Asakusa was actually quite convenient for getting the train to the airport, I left my luggage in one of those handy lockers that they have in all the stations. I could have left it at the hostel, but for the cheap price of the lockers it seemed more convenient just to left it at the station so I could spend a much of the day exploring as possible.

As the cafe is a little further out of the city, I decided to check out if there were any onsens in the area. After all the walking yesterday I quite fancied having a relaxing morning before finding the cafe, and a Japanese spa (onsen) was another thing I hoped to experience on my trip. After a little research during my morning breakfast/planning session, I found an article about top onsens in Tokyo which featured one in the same area as the cafe. So, after quite a bit of getting lost around the quaint area of Ogikubu, with the help of a shop assistant I finally found the onsen, Nagomino-yu. I spent a blissful couple of hours relaxing in the natural hot springs and the various treatment rooms. I must say, I felt particularly clean and glowing afterwards!

According to my research, the onsen and the cafe were very close together. I knew I had to look carefully as the cafe is quite hidden. My main clue would be to find the six dimensions shrine, apparently just opposite the cafe. I actually found it quite shortly after leaving the onsen.
So, up the stairs I went. Only to find that the cafe was closed! However, it turned out that owner Kunio Nakamura was inside and happily let me in to have a look around. It turned out to be well worth the journey, the lovely Kunio made me a giant iced-coffee and we sat at one of the lovely wooden tables for over an hour, discussing Murakami, of course, and I learnt a lot about the background of the cafe and its connection with Murakami. I would love to join one of the monthly book club meetings they have, Kunio told me that everything is themed according to the book they have read that month, from the food to the music played. Kunio also told me about a very intriguing part of Japanese culture, apparently it is very popular to have 'secret' cafes and bars. I think I would fit right in here.

Kunio and I

I really couldn't have had a better last day in Tokyo, I left Ogikubu inspired and totally besotted with Japan and its culture. As I was a little early to be heading straight for the train station, I got off at Ueno park to enjoy the remainder of the days sun and some ice-cream. A perfect day.

Inside Rokujigen







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