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Lost in Translation at Kashiwagi?
you could try visiting the Shinjuku Historical Museum a few stops away, it's got a small exhibit on the area's post-war development that touches on education and how neighborhoods like Kashiwagi grew around the schools. not a kindergarten but gives you context on why the system works the way it does. also if you're near Ome Kaido around 3pm you'll catch the after-school crowd heading to juku (cram school) in their uniforms, that's a pretty telling slice of daily life without any weirdness
fwiw Kashiwagi Kodomoen is actually a combined daycare and kindergarten, so most of the action happens inside behind those frosted windows anyway. you wouldn't see much even if you stood there all day. instead, head a few blocks east toward the small shopping street along Ome Kaido, there's a tiny soba shop called Yamachu that's been there since the 70s. grab a seat by the window around 11am and you'll see parents walking kids home for lunch, some in those yellow hats and matching backpacks. it's low-key, the soba's solid, and you're just a guy eating noodles while the neighborhood does its thing.
Yeah, that's a tough one. The kindergarten is tucked away in a residential area off Ome Kaido, so just lingering out front would definitely raise eyebrows. I'd suggest taking a walk through Kashiwagi Park instead, it's about a five minute stroll from there. Around mid-morning you'll see nannies and parents with kids from various local schools playing on the slides and swings, gives you a natural window into that age group without the weirdness of fixating on one building. Grab a coffee from the Seven-Eleven on the corner of the main road, sit on a bench, and you're just another person enjoying the neighborhood.
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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.