Riding a bicycle at your leisure in East Tokyo. Sauna and beer at Touken is the goal.

To go for a leisurely stroll on a bicycle without any purpose. This is called pottering. Unlike a race, it is a time to stop and admire the scenery, to suddenly jump into a store, or to pedal in vain. This time, we will be pottering around East Tokyo. We will ride Brompton's "Brompton", which will be available for rental at the pop-up at Hamacho "Token".Classic Editon". I decided to go back to "Touken" and toast with sauna and beer! That's all. A trip without a destination is the best luxury.

Photo_Junpei Ishikawa

Text_Shinri Kobayashi

Model_Maho Okada,Keisuke Tagawa,Izumi Hidaka

Edit_Amane Yasuda

Spot05 YATO

After you have eaten, you can visit YATO, an independent bookstore in Ryogoku. Although books can be purchased online, independent bookstores are worth the trouble of visiting even when you are on the road.

This is because the store owners use their ingenuity to create their bookshelves. Unlike large bookstores, it is up to the owner to decide what books are placed next to each other in the limited space. Independent bookstores are interesting because you can feel the world that emerges from the bookshelves.

YATO, which has many fans among the publishing community, offers a full range of books in all genres, with a focus on culture and cuisine, but also including novels and the humanities. The number of books is said to be no less than 6,000.

For example, Sachiko Kishimoto's "I Don't Know" is placed next to a book by Ryuichi Sakamoto. A picture book about exploring oneself using a map as a clue, "Where in the world am I?

The three of us were also absorbed in the contents of the books, silently taking them from the shelves as we went.

The store has hosted a variety of events, including talks by writers and translators and live performances by invited musicians. Now, sister stores "ORAND" and "OUET" have opened in nearby Azumabashi, with "ORAND" on the first floor as a cafe and "OUET" on the second floor as a venue for talk events and live performances, including comedy.

This restaurant is also only a few minutes away by bicycle, so I would love to visit it next time I am in town.

What would you recommend to Huynem readers? The owner's answer to this reckless question was "A Complete Skateboarding History" by skater and urban researcher Ian Borden.

The owner of "YATO The more he reads, the more he watches, the more he enjoys seeing information about various cultures. When asked what he enjoys most about reading and watching movies, he replied that the more he reads and the more he watches, the more he enjoys what he sees as information on various cultures are linked together one after another.

This organic connection is exactly what you will see through this bookshelf. In other words, he seemed to be saying that he wants his customers to enjoy this pleasure as well.