There’s this tofu restaurant called Sorano—there’s one in Shibuya, and one in Ebisu—and they serve tofu in so many different ways. It has a very peaceful interior, and so I’ll eat there. Something gentle on the stomach. If I were really going to indulge myself, I would go to a head spa. I don’t think I’ve found “the one” yet to recommend, but definitely a head spa.
I also love walking around malls. Japan does malls really well, like Ginza 6, though you can even just go to Muji or Tokyo Hands.
Are you a coffee or matcha drinker?
Both. My favorite matcha is at Wasachi in Roppongi, and the owner Takuma is actually one of the first friends I made when I moved to Tokyo. I just found Wasachi on Google and it looked amazing, so I went and we started talking—funnily enough, Anna Sawai did ‘A Day in the Life’ for Vogue, and she also went to Wasachi. It’s the best matcha latte you’ll ever have. You can buy the matcha there as well, and I’ve gifted it to a lot of people.
Whenever you return to Tokyo, what do you fill your suitcase with?
I’m really into stationery. I’m very particular about pens. Go to Itoya in Ginza: It’s eight floors of stationery. Actually, that’s also a place I’d go if I were hungover. Having lived in Tokyo for two years, I have maxed out my stationery. I’ve got my holy grail items. I like thick ballpoint pens, like a 1.0 ballpoint pen. I love a pen, I love a journal. I just fucking love stationary.
When you’re writing music, do you ever go ballpoint pen and paper?
Weirdly, never. When I’m writing music, it is the Notes app on my laptop. But I journal a lot. I write poetry in notebooks. But I never write songs on paper. The songwriting process doesn’t start in the studio for me—it’s the journaling, so I’ll go back to my journal and go through it, and I’ll even highlight stuff that I think is significant.
