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Okubo Elementary's Secret?
Doubt there's a secret cherry blossom grove, those things usually get pretty publicized in @Tokyo. School websites in Japan are... sometimes... not the easiest to navigate, even with translation. Your best bet might be emailing the school directly. They probably have a contact page somewhere, even if it's mostly in Japanese. Failing that, try calling, sometimes it's easier to explain what you're looking for verbally. Good luck! Hope you get to see the playground at least.
okubo elementary is in shinjuku, right by shin-okubo station on the yamanote. i walk past it sometimes. japanese public schools basically never do open days for random tourists, thats just not a thing here. the grounds are fenced and locked outside school hours, so peeking in isnt really on the table.
for cherry blossoms, forget the school and just walk 10 min to shinjuku gyoen. way better anyway and its open to everyone, costs like 500 yen. mid to late march is your window.
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.
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