Day One: Nihonbashi to Shinagawa

Start: 2:30
Finish: 7:30
Distance: 7.8 km

Number of Times I had to go back into my apartment because I forgot something: 3
Stuff Lost: 0 (may be a record!)
Hours lapsed from original departure time: 4
Items forgotten: sunscreen

Souveniers: tarako (cod roe) preserved in Miso, shiitake preserved in soy sauce (Tamabikiya); an-pan (Kimuraya)

Last night I was really hemming and hawing about leaving today. I think my husband was disappointed and starting to believe that I was going to jam on the whole thing. But this morning's sky was a beautiful blue decorated with puffy white clouds. This is a sign! Most of the time it seems like the sky is a white haze from the heat and humidity or a drizzling grey. I'm definitely going out to shoot!

In a way, it's better to start out by myself. Certain aspects of this trip aren't really defined for me and it's easier to figure out my own pace if I'm not worrying about whether or not I'm taking too long.

Reactions to Estello are pretty interesting. A lot of people say "kawaii" (cute!) if they pass by. A couple of people actually ask me questions about what I am doing. This may have something to do with the fact that in order to get a shot of Estello I have to lie down on the street or sit at a funny angle. But it's still interesting to me to actually have people come up and talk to me about it. I find it kind of refreshing for people to wonder what I am doing now rather than what I am doing here. Like in any big city, I think people tend to walk around with a stronger personal space or shield. Maybe a lot of us are looking for a safe way to break the ice and connect with someone on the street for a moment before moving on to our own tasks.

To be honest, Nihonbashi to Shinagawa was not as interesting as I thought it would be. I did an abysmally poor job of using the guidebook. I had a lot of stuff to carry and pulling out the guidebook was an extra annoyance. I'd keep certain places in mind while walking then realize that I had already passed it by without noticing. I enjoyed the parade of expensive stores like Harry Winston, Tiffanny, Mikimoto and the department stores. But I'm not on a shopping trip (assuming I could even afford Harry Winston!) so the Ginza area was not as interesting as usual. This time, the most interesting part of Ginza were the impressive clouds over the rooftops.

I had hoped to stop at a few of the shops mentioned in the book for meibutsu but didn't really see them. I ended up only stopping at one and it was coincidental. It was Tamakiya, a place that has been open since 1782 and sells tsukudani. Tsukudani preserves foods by cooking with miso or soy suace. This was a great place and deserves its own posting which I will try to get done.

I also stopped at Kimuraya. It's a bakery beside the Wako Building across from Mitsukoshi. It's an old family shop famous for an-pan. I bought two little buns for my husband.

Once you pass through the Ginza area, the Tokaido becomes a regular business street. Restaurants, business services, convenience stores line the streets. This pretty much looks like anywhere else in Tokyo. Not much marks this area as unique. It's in the little side streets where the interesting things happen.

By the time I got to Shinbashi, I had started to walk on a side street that ran paralell to the Tokaido. Once in a while a street running perpendicular would have enough sun shining to take a picture. It was only 4 pm at this point, but the buildings are tall enough to make a lot of pictures shady and flat. On the side streets, lots or narrow streets running at odd angles are busy as tiny restuarants and izakayas (pubs) get ready for the after work rush. A lot of these streets were crowded and dirty compared to the cleanliness and orderliness of the main drag just one street over.

As the sky got darker, I just wanted to get to Shinagawa so I could be done. I had planned to walk two stations a day, but found out that with all the photography it was taking me twice as long to get to my destination. I enjoyed the day but was glad it was over.