It’s-a me, Tokyo!

"Mamma mia"-tier pizza masters, hifi bars & more, in the finale of our Japan Recon Report

Welcome to Blackbird Spyplane. Issue 002 of Concorde, our new spinoff for Cla$$ified Tier subscribers, is here. The full Concorde Archive is here.

Spy Nation: Just imagine if, instead of whatever you are about to eat too much of today, in whatever non-Japanese place you probably are, you were in Tokyo eating more delicious & interesting things instead. That’s the brilliant Thanksgiving counter-programming we have on deck for you today at Blackbird Spyplane.

On Tuesday we published Part One of our 2022 “Japan is Open Again” on-the-ground Special Report, devoted to jawns… shops… spending strengthened dollars… in a word: copping.

But copping takes a backseat in today’s sletter. Because in Japan we not only discovered a FLOTILLA of sick jawns impossible to find anywhere else. We also traipsed thru gorgeous parks & gardens resplendent in autumnal foliage; enjoyed the downmarket sublimity of 📀 donuts and fruit sandwiches from 7-Eleven; got lost in beautiful chunes at 📀 great bars tucked down in basements and up narrow staircases; supped on hot bowls of hand-made udon with exquisite tempura sides; and twice savored a contender for the 📀 best pizza we’ve ever had (and, yes, “I’m from Brooklyn baby” so you know I mean business).

Abbondanza — let’s get to it !!

Again, when you see a “📀” below, that’s a DVD-ROM: Dope Vibey D*mn Recon Ordnance Marker.

— Jonah & Erin

(P.S. Don’t fall victim to TORCHED Black Friday sales.)

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Is 📀 the perfect margherita pizza really in Japan?? The notion might seem far-fetched to you if yr horizons are provincial and your brain is not big & craggy — a moot point since you are a by-definition cerebrally engorged sletter-subscriber. You know that Japanese artisans study, master and freak many modes of foreign cultural production, so why not pizza, too?

When it comes to excellent Tokyo pies, 3 places you hear about a lot from Mach 3+ gourmands are: