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"Yurakucho Time Slip"

By lylehsaxon (Mon May 26, 2008 at 06:44:36 PM EST) (all tags)

I got it into my mind to visit Yurakucho on the way home last night. I could find no logical reason to go there, but when you get the feeling you should do something, you should, so....

There isn't much of anything old left in Tokyo, but you can get at least a taste of industrial decades past by visiting a handful of places in Yarakucho that have somehow survived many decades in old-is-not-tolerated Tokyo. The most picturesque of these is probably the drinking place under the tracks - so over-photographed by now that you've probably already seen pictures of it a few dozen times... but... here it is again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saqj-zxndeQ

After taking those images, I wandered over to nearby Hibiya Park and stumbled into a German Beer Festival, where I talked myself into having sausage and beer. The weather was actually perfect for it - not to be taken for granted here, what the rainy season, cold windy winter, hot & humid summer, etc.

"Hibiya Park German Beer Garden"
http://www.youtube.com/user/lylehsaxon

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/

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"Yurakucho Time Slip" | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

I was always by blixco (2.00 / 0) #1 Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:43:19 PM EST

under the impression that Japan scoured it's old buildings...anything not "ancient"...and immediately put up modern monstrosities.

It's not true, of course, but I always had the feeling that Japan developed a temporary psyche after the war. Like everything built was disposable, but everything spirit could remain.
---------------------------------
"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin

: I haven't tried to get at the core reason, but... by lylehsaxon (4.00 / 1) #4 Tue May 27, 2008 at 10:06:49 AM EST

... one local theory is that since the traditional building material here is wood, so it's just part of the culture to rip things down and rebuild. If you visit some temples and ask how old they are, they'll tell you in sincerity that the temple is, say... 500 years old. Then you look into it and discover that it's been rebuilt four times, and the current structure is about 80 years old.
One war influence is that many of the buildings thrown up right after the war were of shoddy quality, and were (rightfully) torn down after a few decades, but it's become a bloody habit now, and no matter how good or historical a building may be, if it's older than 30-50 years, it's begging to be turned to rubble.
Here's a weird situation for you. Not far from where I live there was a solid concrete home that was for sale for a reasonable price. It didn't sell after about a month, so what did they do? Tore down the house and... get ready for this... raised the price for the empty land!!
Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

I love your videos. by Beechwood 45789 (4.00 / 1) #2 Mon May 26, 2008 at 10:37:21 PM EST

There's actually a bit of a theme going. On the street shots, you always seem to start on a main street and then go off in to alleys and hidden back ways. As a viewer, I feel like Alice going down a rabbit hole.

Great stuff.

It used to be that... by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #5 Tue May 27, 2008 at 10:22:29 AM EST

... you could do that sort of thing in many parts of the city - dive into a narrow path from a main road and quickly find yourself in a different world. Those places are few and far between now. Here's one in Shinjuku - another over-photographed site:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8469303174098363852&q=source:016981230402485530753&hl=en

Lyle
The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Is this indoors? by Beechwood 45789 (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue May 27, 2008 at 05:29:51 PM EST

Or do the vendors hook up the lights that run above the walkway?

I noticed the toilet sign was in English. Do streets like this get that many tourists?

[ Parent ]

: Outside by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #8 Wed May 28, 2008 at 11:13:16 AM EST

It isn't readily apparent since the path is so narrow - but that is outside. A friend of mine who liked eating there thought it was funny how his back would get wet when it was raining... - more details on that place later....
Lyle
The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Looks like a scene from Blade Runner by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #3 Tue May 27, 2008 at 07:37:51 AM EST

Except with a bit more light, and less angst.

Earth First!
_{(We can strip mine the rest later.)}

: The story goes that... by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #6 Tue May 27, 2008 at 10:27:40 AM EST

... the director of Blade Runner got the idea for that set from Tokyo! Articles mentioning that in the mid-1980's always mentioned Shinbashi, and then story-mutation set in and now the going line is that it was Shinjuku. It figures, doesn't it? Just when technology allows perfect copying of material, people get their mitts into it and screw it up - making it fiction....
Lyle
The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

"Yurakucho Time Slip" | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback