The sign above this ancient business says the business is called Matsuya and the product is food. I walked past this place hundreds of times in Tokyo and never once saw a customer. Occasionally I saw an old person inside, sleeping in a chair waiting for a customer. I wondered how long this store had been there. 40 years? 60 years? Could it have actually survived the war? Probably not. My best guess is that it went up shortly after the war but probably was rebuilt to look just like the pre-war store.

食料品店 means the store sells food; however, the only food-like items are in the vending machines outside the store. All I ever saw were flowers and plants–and not really nice, fresh ones like the other flower stores in Tokyo. These flowers always had an old and about-to-die look, sort of like the rest of the place.

Posted on August 27th, 2012 under Japan • Tags: buildings, nishi-waseda, signs, Tokyo. • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed