Reid Main

While preparing for this trip we saw a YouTube video about a tonkatsu shop in Kōtō City called Tonkatsu Marushichi that serves absolutely gigantic pork cutlet bowls. I knew this was a place I had to eat at so after grabbing some Blue Bottle coffee we jumped on the subway headed for Kōtō. Arriving about 15 minutes before the place opened we were lucky enough to get in for the first round of seating. This was on a weekday which is probably why we were able to show up so late. Apparently on the weekend lines are over an hour.

To say this was the greatest tonkatsu I have ever had in my life would be an understatement. It was so unbelievably juicy and fatty. I have not stopped thinking about this dish since I ate it. It is living rent free in my head. Also they are not kidding when they say "giant pork cutlet". I was struggling to finish mine because I naively thought I needed the 300g "deluxe" version because 150g could not possibly satisfy me. Lesson learned.

After lunch we headed to Azabudai Hills for the Shueisha Manga-Art Heritage gallery. They had just opened a few days prior and had all sorts of original One Piece art on display including a handmade metal plate used to print a page from the manga. Currently the gallery isn't that large so it was a quick visit but if you find yourself in the area I definitely think it is worth a peek.

We decided that we were in a shopping mood and headed over to Shibuya. Elsie found some more of the books she wanted at a Kinokuniya and we just couldn't help buying more stuff from the Nintendo store. As dinner approached we were getting pretty hungry but continued to have difficulty finding restaurants that would serve us. Eventually we gave up and just headed back to our hotel's bar. I ordered my first (and what would unfortunately be my last) wagyu of the trip. It was delicious but not nearly as good as what I know true A5 wagyu can be.

We retired to our room after dinner and made plans for our penultimate day in Japan.