When traveling for a whole year, we like to find apartments that give us the experience of actually living someplace — as opposed to being tourists in hotels.  In Tokyo, a series of random google searches and obscure links led us to a small (normal by Japanese standards) two-bedroom apartment in a part of town called Nishi-Ogibuko — or West Ogikubo as “nishi” means west in Japanese.  In Tokyo, whenever we told anyone where we were staying, they’d alway say the same thing:  “How on earth did you end up in Nishi-Ogi?  No one ever stays there.”  It may well be one of the least touristy places in Tokyo or, as we like to say, “one of the most authentic.”  None-the-less, we absolutely loved our ‘hood.  Here is a little ode to our morning walk to buy a cup of joe in good ol’ Nishi-Ogi.