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want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Lost in Yodobashi
theres a thing called kōkai jugyō (open class day) but its rly for parents & locals, not randos off the street. what actually works for foreigners is the shinjuku ward international association, they run cultural exchange stuff & sometimes pair visitors with schools for a day. swing by their office near shinjuku gyoen or check their site, thats ur realistic in
also fwiw the building u saw is one of the few prewar concrete schools left in the ward, which is why it looks like that
If you want the school vibe without the trespassing, the trick is the neighborhood around it. Yotsuya Sanchome and the streets behind Shinjuku Gyoen have that exact old Tokyo feel the school photo is giving you, low buildings, narrow lanes, kids walking to class in the morning. Grab coffee near Yotsuya station around 7:45 and just watch the drop off routine from the sidewalk, it's honestly more of a window into daily life than any official tour would be. If you really want classroom access look into the JET program open houses or international exchange events some wards run, those occasionally let foreigners sit in on a class.
Yodobashi Dai 4 is actually a public school in Shinjuku ward, near the Yotsuya area, and like every public elementary school in Tokyo it's closed to casual visitors. What you can do instead is time your trip around a school event that's open to the neighborhood, usually the undokai (sports day) in autumn or the bunkasai culture festival, but those are for families and locals, not tourists, and you'd need an invitation. If you genuinely want to see the inside of a Japanese classroom, look into the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's occasional school visit programs or a university education faculty that arranges observation. Otherwise, just walk past during the morning commute around 8am, you'll see the kids in their randoseru backpacks and yellow hats crossing with the guards, which gives you a feel for the routine without intruding.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.