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 Yanaka is one of Tokyo's most charming districts - albeit in an old, often dilapidated, way. A friend and I met there for lunch this past, sunny Saturday. We rendezvoused at the West Exit of Nippori Station (a very difficult station to traverse from east to west if you're on a bicycle!).

We walked through Yanaka cemetery, which might sound somber, but it's not. The avenue through the cemetery is a vista of cherry trees that, in summer, provide welcome, dappled shade.

My friend told me about a sushi shop in Yanaka that he remembered visiting about twenty years ago. Sushi sounded great, so that's where we headed. With a little help from Google Maps on our iPhones, we found Sushi Noike after about a 15 minute walk heading in the Sendagi Station direction.
Some background about me and sushi. I love sushi. I've never had a problem with run-of-the-mill mass-consumer sushi shops like kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt sushi) or anywhere like that. But just as often as not, I find the old, established sushi shops (i.e., usually the best ones in terms of the quality of the sushi) to be foreigner-unfriendly. The latest experience was just a few weeks ago in Okachimachi, when my partner and I decided to try one of the old sushi shops there that we often go past when out shopping in Okachimachi.

Luck of the draw, maybe - but the one in Okachimachi we walked into at random was a big mistake. First, there was hardly anyone there - a bad sign. Then, the toothless old guy who...