世田谷のシガーな散歩

From the cigar smoker's perspective enjoying a stogie is good in many different locations. Some prefer the quiet of their home with a book or in front of the TV, others make their garden, porch or balcony the preferred place for smoking. However, whether your favorite smoking spot is really available to you all too often depends on the people you share the location with. If your wife (or husband, after all there are female cigar smokers) does not want you to smoke in the living room, you'd better look for some place else. At CigarJapan.com we think that the great outdoors offer many wonderful places to enjoy a cigar. Cigars make a great walking companion, almost like a well-trained dog. And with a few precautions, don't smoke in crowded places or parks that don't allow it, nobody will bother you. Have a nice Cigar Walk!

Tokyu Setagaya Line. This Cigar Walk starts with a short train ride. Departing from the modern-looking shopping complex at Sangenjaya, this local neighbourhood train has all the 'retro' flair that easily makes you think of a time-slip into the 1920's when cigar smoking culture was at its best. Look at the wagon's old wooden wall panels or the wooden floor. Kind of reminds you of good old smoking rooms of yesterday. Sadly, smoking is not permitted here; just joking! The leisurely ride will take you along a typical Setagaya-ku landscape to Kamimachi station, where we go off the train for our next stop on this cigar walk

Amanoya Setagaya is our next stop. A cigar shop located just about four minutes by foot from Kamimachi station. (The shop does not open till 3 pm, so we recommend to time your cigar walk for the late afternoon hours.) From the outside the shop looks like many other tobacco shops in Japan, but upon stepping inside, the cigar smoker instantly recognizes that this is the real deal. A well stocked walk-in-humidor offers premium cigars from all the major brands and cigar producing countries. Ms. Amono, the very friendly wife of the shop owner will gladly assist with your cigar needs, and chat a little about this nice Tokyo neighbourhood. I bought two cigars: a La Cumanesa Cabrera No.2 and a Romeo Y Julieta No. 1. I made this choice specifically with outdoor smoking in mind, but more about that at our next stop, a bench in a beautiful little park.

世田谷定城趾 Park is about 8 minutes by foot from the cigar shop. Old stone stairs lead to a small place surrounded by tall trees and in their shadows are a few benches where I decided to smoke the La Cumanesa Cabrera No.2. This cigar is very suitable for outdoor smoking, with strong flavors that don't get lost in the many other flavors that are present with the park's trees and flowers. It is a very reasonably priced cigar too, so one does not mind if strong winds can make cigars burn uneven in the outdoors. The RyJ No.1, a cigar sold in a tube, in the meantime rested there well guarded from sun and low humidity. Tubes are very practical when taking cigars out for a walk.

Hat Shop, Ningyou Yaki, Cafe PICON BER From the Goutoku Temple it is a 15 minutes walk to our final destination the little town around Goutokuji station. On the way are a number of small shops, again many with that 'retro' flair we already encountered on the train. How about a hat, a fashion accessory that complements the cigar smoker very well. I don't know if the hat shop here carry Panama hats, I'll have to find out next time tough. But now time for a drink. Cafe Picon Ber is just around the corner. This place not only allows cigar smoking, the owner virtually encourages it. There is even a small table display with smokes for sale if you are out of cigars by now. I had a few shots of the good selection of rums from Cuba and Venezuela together with the RyJ No.1 I bought at Amanoya Setagaya. On the way back to the station I bought the obligate 'omiyake', a box of 'ningyou yaki', freshly made for you by the 'obaasan' in the old shop. Then it was back again to the ever busy part of Tokyo with a short ride on the Odakyu Line to Shinjuku. The good life!

・Amanoya Setagaya, Phone 03-3420-5612
・Cafe PICON BER, Phone 03-3420-9977