The closest you can get to Tokyo without leaving a substantial hole in your savings  is actually London’s Piccadilly, home to one-stop Nihon emporium, Japan Centre. A retail staple for the capital’s homesick Japanese population, tourists and japanofiles, Japase (as regulars call it) encompasses a bookshop, food hall, sushi canteen and restaurant, and all under one roof to boot.

Smack bang next to the pandemonium of Piccadilly Circus, the Japan Centre’s street level café and food shop exude a welcoming Zen-like aura, not to mention all manner of tasty aromas. However, come lunchtime, expect to see queues snaking out the entrance for what easily contends for title of best sushi in London. Good value and freshly prepared before your eyes, this is about as authentic as your nigiri can come. And for those who like to satisfy their California roll cravings at home, the Japan Centre food shop is the place to find all the tools, moulds, rolling mats and ingredients you’ll need for a wasabi-infused night in.

Elsewhere in the food shop, pick up cookery books, mismatched sake cups and jugs, and all manner of freshly baked breads, miso soups and instant noodles, not to mention the kitschest (and best named) selection of sweets and treats this side of East Asia. Cream Collon anyone? And if the oft-unfathomable labelling ever does elude you (and you’re not of a daring disposition), rest assured, the Centre’s friendly staff are happy to translate.

Once your basket is well stocked, head downstairs to peruse the bookshop where you’ll find cutesy toys, stationary, origami paper, films, language, travel, fashion and manga books and best of all magazines. Take it from us, no trip to the Japan Centre is complete without a copy of Tokyo Graffitti or Men’s Non-No to leaf through on the tube home—reason enough to embark on a bid to master Kanji, and a trip back to purchase the text books.

Japan Centre now also offer online shopping. You can buy Japanarama at www.japancentre.com
212-213 Piccadilly, London, W1

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