Nishimagome Obsessives

All of these photos were taken within a few minutes' walk from each other, about 5 minutes from Nishimagome Station.

An auto shop under the expressway. It looks nondescript from afar...

...but turns out to house a massive Ultraman collection.

There is also a collection of vintage soda bottles.

A similarly nondescript suburban home turns out to have...

...an incredible collection of tiny to small cacti.

A junkyard inhabited by cats. (On the left.)

Not a florist's, but a coffee shop with a fairly sizable collection of sakuraso （Japanese primrose) flowers.

Haunted Mansion or Vintage Shop?

When I first saw this building on Saint Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, I was convinced that it was an abandoned building that had been used to throw a Halloween party.

I mean, look at this: references to the end of the world...

...Michael Jackson and baby...

...drunken Santa...

...and an ad for The Rocky Horror Picture show.

But then I googled eva-b.ca and found out it is actually a famous vintage shop. Turns out, "we buy all your clothes immediately after selection" is actually to be taken seriously.

Hachiko Has Something to Say

Hachiko, an Akita dog that has been dead over 75 years, has a couple of requests: 

○ Put me on a leash and walk with me.

× Don't forget to clean up my poo!

As the official mascot of Shibuya Ward, he also has to suffer the indignity of being immortalized on a bus but looking like a red gorilla.

HDS?

When you walk from Ebisu to Meguro, this building is difficult to ignore. Seen from the front side, it's a gray rectangle with a red circle in the center. It's no surprise that the H in HDS stands for Hinomaru (another name for the Japanese flag), but you could never guess that DS stands for...

Driving School.

Ignorance, Not Racism

A barbershop found somewhere between Ikebukuro and Mjiro. Upon first glance, I liked its look.

It's clearly an old-school barbershop that has been adopted by someone younger and hipper.




 But then something caught my eye: the word "niguro" on the top right of the menu. Niguro? Negro. I was appalled, to say the least. Apparently, the hairstyle has been around for some time, adopted most commonly by yanki (a riff on Yankees) -- street thugs. The hairstyle itself is basically short hair permed with a tiny barrel to create meticulous waves. It's not an afro, though; the hair is curled tightly around the head and looks almost like a buzzcut.


It's easy to yell, "Racist!", but that's not what's going on here. It's more blissful ignorance, and joins the larger Japanese practice of adopting "foreign" hairstyles, clothing, and language wholesale without an examination or understanding of what they mean in another culture, or all of the complicated emotions that the people of those cultures grapple with.

In the case of niguro, it appears that word has gotten around that it is an offensive name for a hairstyle. But open a street fashion magazine and you will find other examples of questionable language. It's hard to see what the solution is here, but in an era when one out of every ten babies is not of Japanese citizenship, I hope there will be more people who can point out these issues and educate the people around them.

Ginza Is Getting Too Weird for Me

Every Sunday, Ginza's main street is closed to traffic, and shoppers and tourists are free to wander up and down the wide stretch. Lately, I've been seeing more and more odd things here that are completely at odds with my impression of Ginza.

Above, Uniqlo Ginza shop displays Sanrio-inspired outfits to commemorate a Uniqlo / Sanrio collaboration on T-shirts.

You have to admit, this puts all the party animal-making clowns to shame. A Marie Antoinette wig made out of balloons!

If you're too busy gawking at it, you won't notice that on the left is a tiny yappy dog in its own car.

Admittedly, the car is remote-controlled, but it almost doesn't matter. Seeing this dog and car zip around people's ankles is a dumbfounding sight.

The famous lion statue (erected in 1914) in front of Mitsukoshi department store. Look closely and you will notice a cat playing with itself.

There was a huge crowd gathered around it for a good hour or so. Lest you think it was a stray that had wandered here itself, it had an odd bonnet around its neck, and there was a minder-type person standing ominously slightly out of sight.

As amusing as I found all of these oddities, it was jarring to see them specifically in Ginza. Ginza as an area with sleek buildings, crisp dressers, and a slightly formidable properness (particularly during the day) that reminds visitors that they are in Ginza. The sort of crowd-pandering and attention mongering seems like something you would see in Shibuya or Harajuku. Is this the turn of the tide?

Rickshaw Sighting

A disused rickshaw sits in front of Tokyo YMCA Yamanote Community Center in Takatanobaba.

I can sort of understand why it would be there, but it's still a little baffling. Although the word rickshaw comes from the Japanese name (jin-riki-sha), they went out of everyday use around 80 years ago. The were most likely used in some cultural event hosted by the YMCA, years ago.

The Birds

A run-of-the-mill suburban house in Shinurayasu has been turned into a shrine for wood-carved birds. A hobby of the owner's, no doubt.

There was quite a variety in bird species.

While I'm amazed by the sheer number of birds, I'm less surprised (though of course, impressed) by the quality of the work. A couple of years ago, my then 88-year-old grandfather showed me an exquisitely carved wooden bird that he himself had whittled down from a block of wood. In Japan, each elementary school kid has their own set of carving chisels, which they use in art class. Perhaps it's something you come back to when you're older and have the time.

Little Okinawa

In Daitabashi, on my way to see the Von Jour Caux buildings. I didn't expect this strangeness: a shopping arcade proudly calling itself "Okinawa Town". Its roots are organic -- this area was home to a renowned Okinawan scholar, and many Okinawans supposedly settled down here -- but the street was born out of a concerted effort to revitalize the town.

Out of the 74 shops in the arcade, a surprising number are Okinawan restaurants. (Is there such a high demand for them?) Others show their support by decorating their spaces with Okinawa iconography. See the Shisa (lion-dog figures that ward against evil) in clay and paper form on the right bottom and right top of the photo above.

A more convincing demonstration of Okinawan culture: sanshin (an Okinawan folk instrument) lessons for young people. They were all practicing, "Happy Birthday".

A shisa, perhaps, rendered with shells.

Despite their efforts, the area has a shabby, lonely feel. You can definitely feel the effects of the aging population here.

Two old ladies, keeping warm with a portable stove and selling homemade food. They were enjoying a nice gabfest.

Jivin' at Karakan

The lobby of Karakan (Karaoke-kan, a karaoke megachain with the cheapest prices) in Koenji. There was a wall-sized black-and-white photo of a black guy singing, half-heartedly styled to look retro, and on the counter, this horribly macabre-looking sculpture. Looks like something out of the "Thriller" video.

The Karakan had nice rooms, though.

Christmas in Tsukishima

Tsukishima's Monja-dori, with its countless monja and okonomiyaki restaurants, and mom-and-pop shops selling everything from rice to old toys, may seem like one of the most staunchly traditional areas in Tokyo. 

However, even they are unable to resist the opportunity for decoration that Christmas provides.

 

Tastefully placed old stuff seems to be the appeal of this store. (I have no idea what their wares actually are.)

 

I fell instantly in love with this rotary phone cover. (Sewed using leftover fabric for the cushion covers, perhaps?)

A highly concentrated amount of advertising for such a small space. Note the Santa on the right, the tree in the middle and on the left, and the wreath. The bulletin board also shows a hand-drawn Christmas menu.

 "Please do not take these."

Oh please. We are looking at geraniums here, not even poinsettias.

Now if I were the owner, I would be worried about someone trying to steal this old-school stereo. (A classic Cicena.)

In the same way that Japan has created the tradition of couples going out on Christmas Eve, they have also made it a tradition to eat fried chicken for Christmas. Hence this man in a chicken suit, shilling Family Mart chicken on Christmas Eve. He clowned around with amazing commitment, but passers-by weren't impressed enough to actually buy anything.

Kingyozaka Cafe

When you're done looking at the fish at Kingyozaka, you can step inside the cafe for a bite.

The history of the cafe is less storied -- it's been open for less than 10 years. It is, however, an impeccable construction that has been decorated lovingly. (The Kingyozaka website even has information on the company that built the cafe.)

There are three floors: the restaurant floor, the bar (technically a half-floor), and the attic floor. You can't see it in this photo, but the half-circle window has a goldfish design etched into it.

The attic gives off the vibe of a cozy chalet. Since the bar sells cigars, the scent (not as unbearable as cigarette smoke, and strangely suited to the vibe) wafts upward.

Goldfish are naturally part of the decor...

... as are goldfish motifs.

They even wind up in your plate! This is a carrot in the form of a goldfish. Regular fish is also on the menu, although I would feel slightly uncomfortable ordering it after looking at all the goldfish outside.

Cigar boxes and goldfish, an incongruous combination.