The autumn exhibition season has begun, and I've already made several day trips, but this time, I couldn't make it a day trip, so N-san and I stayed overnight, and I decided to blog about it again.
I'd be grateful if you could read it in your spare time, like the crow at Mount Arigata.
I left home while it was still dark and met up with N-san on a local train to Hiroshima Station.
This time, the transfer time from the local line to the Shinkansen was extremely tight!
Normally, I'd queue for a Doutor coffee, but there was no time for that, so I grabbed a Seven-Eleven coffee from the concourse and rushed to the Shinkansen ticket gate.
When I passed my IC card through, a seat map-like ticket came out as usual, but when I casually looked at it, wondering what car it was, my eyes nearly popped out.
Huh? The Shinkansen is a Hikari...?!?
N-san always arranges my Shinkansen and hotel with pleasure.
You booked a Hikari...!?
The departure bell rang, and I slipped into the train just in time.
This is a Hikari, right?
I mumbled to N-san (for the second time), but N-san was all smiles and satisfied, saying, "I'm glad we made it just in time!"
Am I wrong? That's right, we'll arrive before noon, so a Hikari is fine.
Why live a life always pressed for time? A Hikari is fine.
Actually, I didn't even know you could go directly from Hiroshima to Tokyo on a Hikari.
Immediately, the train stopped at Higashi-Hiroshima Station, where the Nozomi never stops, and I calmed myself with a convenience store coffee. N-san, next to me, started to panic, saying, "Oh! Is that what it is?!"
Apparently, he had always booked Shinkansen tickets based only on the arrival time and the 700 series, and it was a miracle that all of them had been Nozomi trains until now! (lol)
As modern people who value time efficiency, we still transferred to a Nozomi at Fukuyama Station.
Even though I had received the itinerary beforehand, I didn't notice it at all. My apologies.
Fukuyama Castle in the morning. I was wide awake.
So, we arrived in Tokyo earlier than expected.
This time, I was in the mood for soba, so we had a leisurely lunch at a soba restaurant near the exhibition venue.
I had Kamo Nanban. It was delicious!
N-san had set A with small shrimp tempura.
Even the soba-yu was delicious. Thank you for the meal!
Today's exhibition is ebagos.
There's a theme every time, and for 2026SS, it's ASA JIKAN (Morning Time).
It was a wonderful exhibition with many colorful items, perfect for spring/summer, and motifs like plates and croissants.
The popular Funyushrink series also featured a round bag after a long time (N-san highly recommended it!), and there was a leather shoulder bag that was perfectly my style (super expensive... but I reserved it, lol cry). There were so many highlights.
It's a shame I can't show you, but the display was truly lovely. I was inspired by the color-coded arrangements and the clothing pairings.
Please look forward to ebagos in 2026.
Well, it was still too early to go to the hotel.
So, we decided to go to the National Diet Building, which was N-san's number one place she wanted to visit!
Just that day was the inauguration day of Prime Minister Takaichi, the first female prime minister.
We were lucky to be able to go to the National Diet Building on such a memorial day. We were delighted.
The area around the National Diet Building was somewhat bustling with reporters and security guards.
Carelessly, I asked the attendant at the entrance of the House of Representatives, "I'd like to take a tour...?"
The attendant replied that tours were canceled for the day. Oh, of course. I was disappointed.
Since we came all this way, we decided to walk around, and lo and behold, there was an entrance to the House of Councillors.
We asked a security guard standing there, and he said that while tours of the House of Representatives were closed today, tours of the House of Councillors were available. So, to the House of Councillors it is! They're separate!
Until the last tour at 4 PM, we browsed around the Diet Building's souvenir shop, aptly named "Omoideya" (Souvenir Shop), which sold items only available there.
I was just casually looking, but N-san was super serious.
She had wanted a teacup with illustrations of past prime ministers for 20 years, and when she finally got it, she gave me a truly lovely smile.
It was interesting to see that there were already manju (steamed buns) with Takaichi-san's sticker on them, even though she had only been in office for a few hours.
The tour of the House of Councillors was very interesting!
First, in the waiting room, N-san played "parliamentarian" by sitting on a replica of a real seat until the tour began.
For or against? There was a button here.
There were about 50 people on the tour, with about 30% being inbound tourists.
What surprised me was how magnificent the building was.
It was built with materials that would be difficult to procure today, and with a significant investment of labor and time.
A scene I've seen on TV!
There were so many things I didn't know, like the Emperor's private space and the imperial family's seating.
This is around the Central Hall.
The windows are stained glass. Everywhere you look, the craftsmanship is incredibly detailed.
2cm square mosaic tiles on the floor.
The Emperor's exclusive resting room.
Silk carpets. Amazing...
The long corridors were all carpeted in red, giving them a classical, stately, and clean feel.
I wonder how it managed not to burn down during the war.
I highly recommend it if you have the chance. No reservations are needed, and it's free.
I'm glad we went.
Tonight's accommodation is in Okachimachi.
The hotel seemed to cater to inbound tourists, but it was new and clean, and the lounge on the top floor was open, offering a beautiful view of the Skytree.
After a quick dinner nearby, we returned to our room for an important dessert time with Johann's cheesecake from the famous shop, which I couldn't resist buying near the exhibition venue, and coffee (N-san immediately used her teacup).
We went to bed early.
Sorry, it's already getting long even though it's only day 1...
Day 2 will be super quick!
Since there was only a shower booth in the room, I took a morning bath at a public bathhouse just a short walk away. It felt like Edo.
Maybe it was because it was first thing in the morning, but the water was super hot! But it was the best.
Feeling refreshed, we had breakfast at a coffee shop diagonally across from the public bathhouse.
The coffee was dark roast.
It was a good coffee shop, a good breakfast, somehow reminiscent of Kyoto coffee shops.
Unfortunately, it rained today.
We had decided it wouldn't rain and hadn't brought umbrellas.
It rained all day, with varying intensity. And it was a bit cold.
We don't often come to Okachimachi, so I wanted to take a walk, but we had to give up.
We moved to today's exhibition venue earlier than planned.
Today is Comme des Garçons.
It's the exhibition for next spring/summer's tao and noir.
There are many items, and we handle two brands, and we have to place orders on the same day, so it inevitably takes a whole day.
tao had clothes with floral motifs in collaboration with Aya Imamura, and new Moomin T-shirts, which were popular last spring/summer, were cute.
noir is ★.
There were various star-motif items, and it was a wonderful collection that was fun just to look at, as expected.
Please check out the fashion press site.
I'll put the links here.
On the way back, we missed our scheduled Shinkansen from Tokyo Station and had to change it.
We barely had any lunch, so we were starving.
I managed to buy a shiumai bento and boarded the Shinkansen.
For an old woman, it was a fun but tough overnight business trip.
This year, I have another overnight business trip planned for OLDMAN'S TAILOR in December.
If you have the chance, I would be happy if you could read the blog about it then.
Thank you for sticking with me this long today.