photo by author, 30 Dec 2008
During my first month in Japan I lived in one of the many divisions of the expansive Tokyo metropolis, Itabashi-ku. Just 10 minutes walk from my host-family’s house there is a roofed shopping street called Happy Road. The covered area of the street forms the top half of a Y-shape, with more shops in the lower half. At the center of these three roads is a train station from which one can easily reach Ikebukuro, where many of Tokyo’s youth spend their evenings. Lining the sides of Happy Road are the kind of small shops which I find everywhere in Japan, and give this metropolis a small-town feel. Small businesses seem to prevail here.
photo by author, 31 Dec 2008
Nestled in between apartment buildings, next to houses, and under bridges all over Tokyo are automated parking spaces for cars and motorbikes and bicycles. I was really surprised when first saw one. It requires that you don’t think twice about entrusting a large and expensive investment which is your main form of transportation to a small anonymous vending machine. And if you don’t have the cash on hand to pay the fee upon returning, tough luck! To me, this hints that Japanese people have a great deal of trust in their businesses and the others in their society.
I wonder if small shops and their shop owners provide a more personable & friendly atmosphere than the big box stores to which we are accustomed? Since public transportation appears to be readily available, are cars necessary day to day or just for “gettin out o town”?
ReplyDeleteThese shopping arcades feel very Japanese and are full of traditional shops. Many worry they are dying out as people shop at chain stores and outlet malls. And many old shops are being torn down to make space for mini-parking lots...
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