The crowds file in, clogging the lobbies and escalators. They peer and gawk. They shuffle around with phone cameras cocked. It¡¯s always like this when any mall or major building opens. Why should you expect anything different at the new Tokyo Midtown Hibiya mall?

Even when you find the restaurants, there¡¯s little respite from the inevitable lines and incessant milling around. So it comes as a major relief to finally reach the third floor and find the imposing, polished wood portal of Sobagami.

There are no windows to allow a glimpse of what lies within. This is intentional. Once you slide open that inscrutable polished timber door and slip inside, all is quiet and calm, a welcome oasis that is safely insulated from the relentless toing and froing outside.