Tokyo, end of summer

Zaiyu Hasegawa's playful counter. The DenTucky monaka and the salad with 25 vegetables. Three Michelin stars worn lightly.

Ginza kissaten since 1948. Aged beans, copper pots, master roaster Sekiguchi-san working past 100. Unchanged.

Kuma Kengo building. Pre-modern Asian art collection. The garden behind is the real reason to come.

Modern wagashi salon. Seasonal sweets, the gentleman's daifuku, a thoughtful tea menu. Quiet afternoon.

Modern tea ceremony in Spiral Building. Matcha and gyokuro courses paired with wagashi. The dish-tea pairing is the move.

Roppongi tonkatsu specialist. A heritage-pork list you read like a wine list. The right kind of unfussy.

Shibuya's drunkard alley. Twelve seats per bar, kept honest by the regulars. Not for tourists who want translation.

Hiroyasu Kawate's basement counter in Aoyama. Vegetable-led, quietly intense. Two Michelin.

The architects' boulevard. Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Herzog & de Meuron in 600 metres. Walk it slowly.

The most-visited Shinto shrine, set in a man-made forest. Go at 8am with a coffee — that's the whole trick.

First Japan flagship in a former warehouse. Worth the detour for the building, the neighborhood walk, the matcha latte.

Shitamachi shopping street, escaped most rebuilding. Cats, sembei, sunset stairs at Yuyake Dandan.

Ginza tori paitan ramen. A clean, creamy bowl. The queue is real — go for late lunch.

Modern ryokan vertical. Tatami floors, in-room ofuro, basement onsen. A different rhythm of stay.