The national pastime in Japan is not baseball or sumo; it is bathing. These days, most people have a really nice ofuro (お風呂) room in their apartment for such activities. Back in the day, few people could afford such a luxury so they went to the sento (銭湯 or public bath or bath-house) on a regular basis. Sadly, most of these are now gone.

You can still spot the remaining sento from a distance, though, because of the smoke stack (visible in the above picture). Notice that no steam is coming out of this one. That’s because it is no longer used as a sento. Instead, Scai the Bathhouse, the name written in English on the wall in the above photo, has been converted into an art gallery. You can find it in the Yanaka part of Tokyo.

The wires hanging above the streets in Japan drove me crazy for a while. Then I got used to them and hardly took notice. Returning to the USA caused me to notice the lack of wires. It’s strange how the mind works–focusing on differences rather than the “normal.”

Posted on February 15th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: buildings, Tokyo, yanaka. Comments Off on Scai the Bathhouse

On a bike ride around the Yanaka area of Tokyo I spotted this old style building. Yanaka was spared the fire bombings of WW2 so you do sometimes see buildings more than 60 years old, a rarity in Tokyo. I didn’t know if this was built before the war or just made to look old. Given the concrete base I figured the latter.

However, thanks to the sign on the front (吉田屋酒店) and with a little internet research, it turns out that this Yoshida Liquor Store was built in Yanaka in Meiji Jidai, Year 43 (1910). In the 1980s it was moved to its present location. You can check it out in person at this address: 〒110-0002 東京都 台東区 上野桜木2-10-6.

Posted on February 8th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: buildings, signs, Tokyo, yanaka. Comments: 1

Occasionally in Tokyo, and in several places in Yanaka, you can spot these old water wells. I’m not sure the era in which they no longer became the main source of water, certainly pre-WW2 but how much earlier I don’t know. This one is at Tennoji (天王寺), near the Nippori Station in Yanaka. Few things are better in life than a blue sky day, at the peak of the cherry blossom season, in Yanaka. To top it off, this was a weekday so there were no crowds, and the temple was giving away free tea and snacks.

Posted on December 13th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buddhist, cherry blossoms, sakura, temples, Tokyo, yanaka. Comments Off on Yanaka Water Well during Sakura

The assortment of beverages available in Japan is astounding. New drinks are constantly being invented. If you find one you like there is a good chance you’ll never see it again. I purchased this Cola Float (コーラ　フロート or Cola Froat) from a vending machine. The sign in the background can be found on the main shopping street in Yanaka on the side of a candy store.

And the answer to the most important question? Does a can of pop taste like a float even with no ice cream? The answer is yes. It tasted like a cola float despite the lack of ice cream involved.

Posted on September 8th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: signs, yanaka. Comments: 1

I love the finger puppets you can find in Yanaka at a place called Shokichi. The faces have such great expressions. The half hour show is fun too, especially if you can understand Japanese.

For the remainder of the day, on both occasions that I have visited this place, Japanese people that I see look more like puppets than real people.

Posted on September 7th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: Shokichi 笑吉, yanaka. Comments: 2