For me, May and June are the perfect months in Tokyo for a weekend picnic. Nice and warm, but not too hot, as long as the rainy season hasn’t arrived yet, this is the ideal time to gather some friends, make some nice food and spend the day on picnic blankets under a tree in the park. You just can’t beat lounging around all day, enjoying some cold beers or wine with friends, grazing on delicious food all day, and if you’re feeling energetic, throwing a frisbee with the kids.

So recently, with the weather forecast looking good for the coming weekend, I started to plan a picnic in a local park, the one with the luxury of grassy areas and trees, not always a given here in Japan. So the first thing to prepare is my trusty picnic basket, which I had sent from England when I first came to Japan. It’s a traditional wicker basket, quite large, with leather straps inside to attach china plates, cutlery, salt and pepper and the most essential accessory, a bottle opener! I hadn’t used the basket for a few years, and the news was not good. No plates, no cutlery, no salt and pepper shaker, but at least the bottle opener was there! The problem you see is that the basket stopped being my personal picnic basket when I started Swan & Lion. It morphed into a multi-functional business aid for taking part in the weekend farmers’ markets and events – product transportation box and shop display. As I mentioned, it’s a large basket, big enough to load up 50 or so jars of chutney etc, some cake and the other bits and bobs I needed to do the market. And the basket fitted perfectly on the back of my bicycle. Then, once at the market, the basket could be used for an excellent product display container and structure from which to hang photos, price cards etc. And it instantly gave a feeling of “Britishness” to customers, which in turn made it easier for me to explain exactly what it was I was selling. Looking back on those times now, I realise the picnic basket was very integral to the start of my business, something that was extremely functional but at the same time helped customers understand what Swan & Lion is.

But alas, all those trips on the back of the bicycle and days spent in the sun and rain have taken their toll on the basket and it’s pretty tired and damaged now, with parts of the wicker broken and all the plates and cutlery either broken or missing. So I thought I would check out buying a new one from England to replace it. Like most things nowadays, the choice and price points are very wide and varied. You can get a perfectly good wicker basket imported from China or Indonesia, with plates and cutlery etc for 4 people for around 70 pounds (￥10,000). Pretty cheap I thought. But then there’s the other end of the market, the all-British-made version. The Rolls Royce of the picnic basket world. And for this, you can’t go past the baskets made by G.W. Scott & Sons. Founded in 1661 in London, G.W Scott & Sons was a producer of fine basketry and luxury leather goods for the wealthy and in 1851 is thought to have invented the first picnic basket as we know it today. The craze for picnics and picnic baskets boomed in the Victorian era. Picnics were becoming very fashionable at that time and it was a fashion to eat outside and to get away from the pollution and your dark surroundings. GW Scott capitalised on the trend by creating the first wicker basket with compartments, and sturdy leather straps to secure everything – just what you wanted when dining al fresco. After trading for more than 300 years, they finally closed the doors to their shop at 144 Charing Cross Road in 1979, never to reopen again. I checked Google and it seems 144 Charing Cross Road does not exist at all now, having been demolished to make room for the new Tottenham Court Road tube station upgrade. But thanks to a graduate of the London School of Fashion, Stuart Eggleton, the brand was revived in 2016 and is once again producing fine handcrafted picnic baskets using only British materials. The wicker basket is made from willow grown in Somerset by the same family that produced the willow used in the first picnic basket in 1851.

The leather is also sourced from Somerset. The chinaware is from Stoke-On-Trent, home to internationally acclaimed ceramics brands such as Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Royal Albert. The cutlery is sourced from Sheffield, the northern city famous for the production of cutlery since the 17th century and which developed stainless steel in the early 20th century.

So, how much for an all-British-made picnic basket? Well, they’re not cheap! How about £1900 for the Afternoon Basket? Better start saving now.

Even if you don’t have a fancy basket like this, here are a few tips for organising a perfect picnic:

• In Tokyo, from early May you will need at least 2 standard size cooler boxes, one for the food and one for the drinks. Use chiller blocks and/or you can freeze small bottles of water or juice in advance and drink them when they have melted.
• Try to carefully plan how much food you will need. After a day out in the sun, most uneaten food will need to be discarded.
• Carry dressings and sauces separately and dress your food there. Avoid soggy salads.
• Bring more plates, cutlery, drinks cups and napkins than you think you will need. Any extras can be used next time. Use recyclable materials, no plastics. Bring your own chopsticks, not single-use. Pack a few bags for your rubbish.
• Pack a small chopping board and small knife, wrapped well in a cloth and out of reach of any kids. Someone is guaranteed to bring a baguette or a long salami, but forget the sharp knife!
• Bring lots of blankets. Blue sheets are strictly prohibited.
• Don’t forget the bottle opener!
• Pack hats, sunglasses, sunscreen and insect repellent. It’s a jungle out there!

Happy picnicking!

My favourite film or TV with a picnic theme: the Australian film directed by Peter Weir. I saw this on the BBC when I was in my early teens and it had a big impact on me. I was fascinated with Australia after that, and I ended up moving there in my 20s.