May 2026 Japan Trip Day 3

Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/1000s, f/8, ISO800

Day three was another Magic: the Gathering card shopping day, this time in the Shinjuku area. Since those shops open later in the day, we took a morning detour to Kiyosumi Shirakawa, a destination in Tokyo widely regarded for its artisan coffee shops. I know I’ll start sounding like a broken record, but I’ll say it again: Everything in Japan is top-notch and the coffee is no exception. The walk to Blue Bottle Coffee was a quiet one, but inside the coffee shop there were people enjoying their brews. I ordered a cold brew coffee and Jei wanted something strong so I got her an espresso. I also picked up some delightful pastries (a green tea cheesecake, and a pudding). Both were delicious! It was a great start to the day.

We navigated our way to Shinjuku which was immediately WAY more crowded. Our next destination was the Hareruya Tournament Center and it lived up to its name. The play area was easily 3x larger than our home LGS (local game store). Thankfully this one was all Magic: the Gathering as the previous Hareruyas were anything but! We searched through bulk bins and ooo’d and ahhh’d looking at the showcase displays and searched the computers for specific single cards we were looking for. I was able to complete the Silver Scroll Foil cards for my Samurai deck. One showcase in particular caught my eye because it had the infamous S/A/B lottery indicators, and there was a particular card in it that has been on my want list for a bit in the A-slot…

Next, it was time for shopping at Tokyu Hands and other shops. Japan department stores are the best. They’re well-spaced with great accessible restrooms with the best toilets, have diverse food courts, and some truly unique stores. We were starting to run out of energy, so we looked around for a small meal and went to the busiest McDonalds I’d ever walked into. It was two-stories with 40-ish seats on the floor and 100+ more on the second floor. It was difficult to find seating for two, but we managed it. Many customers came in and put their bags on the second floor first before going downstairs to order with no one watching their stuff! It was soon after we left the establishment that I realized my iPhone was running out of power, and it was needed for doing the train thing efficiently.

Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/4000s, f/4, ISO800

We recovered back at the hotel for a bit before going back out to forage for food. I looked up Tokyo Teppan Club Den, continuing our Japan culinary journey of trying something different each night. Also, I wasn’t yet acquainted with Monjyayaki which I learned was Tokyo’s own Okonomiyaki style. This place was open late but was a bit more of a walk into the residential area of Ryogoku.

This concludes day three’s events.