David Beall Photography

Shinjuku: Kabukicho and Piss Alley

I arrived at Shinjuku Station tired, but in no way ready to go back to my hotel. I exited  the station and decided to head towards the Kabukicho area, just to the north of station, with the hope of finding something interesting. 

Emerging from the station, I found myself on Shinjuku-dori (Shinjuku Street) facing the local landmark, Studio Alta. (Studio Alta is mostly know for the massive TV screen that adorns the front of the building. But it’s also a shopping center with a TV station located on the top floor. I’ve never actually gone inside Studio Alta in all the times I’ve been in Shinjuku, not sure why. Next time I suppose.)

After a short wait for the light to change at the crosswalk, I made my way further north, walking through the small streets and alleys packed with restaurants and arcades until I reached Yasukuni-dori where, on the opposite side of the street, resided the famed Kabukicho area.  And marking the entrance to it, was the familiar (to me) big, red illuminated gate. 

I walked up and down the streets for a good while, passing the many bars and clubs crammed into the surrounding buildings. There were so many people out having a good time, the streets were packed. I found myself deeply missing one of my favorite ramen restaurants that used to be located on one of the corners a couple blocks back from the main street.

When I finally decided it was time to go, I headed out of Kabukicho the way I came in, through the illuminated gate and back onto Yasukuni-dori. However, instead of crossing back towards Shinjuku Station, I made a right turn and headed west, on a route that took me under the overhead JR Line tracks and in the general direction of my hotel. I went this way so that I could take a walk through the small alleys of Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) or ”Piss Alley” as it’s also called. (That quaint nickname comes from the old days when it had no bathrooms inside its tight quarters- it has toilets now).

However before I got there I stopped just outside of it to watch the local JR trains pass by on the tracks that I just crossed beneath.

As I stood there watching trains go by, sounds of drumming started emanating from somewhere underneath the same tracks I had just walked under. At first I wasn’t sure exactly where it was coming from but then realized that it was just maybe 25 yards away to my right. It turned out to be a guy who had set himself up in the perfect place to amplify his music to the world. I walked over to have a closer listen. 

I don’t think he was at all aware of the five or so of us who had gathered around him to listen. And it was probably 10 minutes before he finally ended what he was playing and looked up to see us standing there. He was very gracious and appreciative of the fact that we stopped and I did my best to communicate in my terrible Japanese how much I enjoyed his performance. Definitely one of those moments where I feel I lost out an a great chance to have a more meaningful experience due to my lack of language skills. 

He started playing again, and after a minute or so more of listening, I moved on and made my way over Omoide Yokocho.

The two alleys that comprise Omoide Yokocho are packed full of cramped little eating establishments that are mainly known for yakitori, but also noodles of various kinds among other things. Most of the places are simply a counter with a few stools, very quaint and inviting. 

As I was preparing to leave the alley, I happened to photograph a young couple as they were coming out of one of the restaurants. I didn’t think they saw me at first, but they did- which was fine. They approached me with the biggest smiles, and were most definitely a little, shall we say, “tipsy” from all their evening’s fun. (The guy was quite tall, 6 foot something and she was my height. My guess was that they were on a date after a Saturday workday.) They asked me where I was from and and if I had eaten, and if I would take their picture (to which I said sure). They were very cool. 

They posed for me and were having the best time doing so. Unfortunately though, they had backed me into an area where the light was terrible, and even pushing the ISO to the maximum and the aperture wide open, I couldn’t get a shot of them that wasn’t totally blurry and useless. They were also having a very hard time standing anything close to still due to there “tipsiness”. They had no idea though and loved the blurry images on the back of my camera. In fact, after seeing them they thanked me and went merrily on their way. (I was disappointed that none of their photos turned out.)

So, feeling that was my cue to finally head back in, I set forth out onto the street that took me south along the outside of Shinjuku station and in the general direction of the hotel.  I passed another stall belonging to the ramen business that I enjoyed my first night in Tokyo.

Then passed a line of waiting taxi’s.

Then passed the ramen stand I did eat at the other night before coming to the final few blocks of stores and restaurants that lay between the station and my hotel.

Yodobashi Camera was long closed. The night was winding down here and the crowds were thinning. 

I was in a strange mood at this point. I wanted to stay out all night as I wasn’t ready for my trip to end, but I was exhausted from the day and needed some sleep. The whole trip had been just go go go, never really stopping to rest except when I was on the train.

So it was with great reluctance then, that I went back to my room (with a quick stop at Lawson for orange juice, water and yogurt to eat with the last of my Frosties), packed my stuff and downloaded the days photographs before finally climbing into bed.

My alarm was set for an early-ish morning. The plan was to be out of the room by 9am or so with my bags delivered to the bell captain to be stored for the day. And since tomorrow was Sunday, that meant that I could go catch the Rockabilly dancers down in Yoyogi park.

One day left!

Rainy Shibuya

Riding the Yamanote line train to Shibuya (from Tokyo Tower), gave me a chance to rest my feet and let my mind wander. I started thinking maybe I should go back to my hotel and drop off some unnecessary gear, but quickly dismissed the idea, as going all the way back to Shinjuku just to turn around and come back to Shibuya (which I was going to be passing right through) would’ve been a waste of time on the final night of this trip.

Nonstop to Shibuya it would be.

The ride was quick and I exited out of Shibuya station via the entrance near the statue of Hachiko the dog, adjacent to the huge (and famous) intersection known as “Hachiko Crossing”. I was surprised to see that it had again been raining while I was on the train (like it had earlier on my way to Ueno.) The ground was now nice and shiny, and wet. It was going to be raining again soon, that was for sure.

This intersection (Hachiko Crossing) is an iconic place, instantly recognizable from travel books and movies. It’s in “Lost in Translation” for instance. Lots of lights at night and it’s designed so that when people cross, everyone crosses at the same time, from all directions.

Instead of immediately crossing the crazy intersection, I turned left and made my way over to, and across, a pedestrian bridge to that took me slightly away from the action. I wanted to see if I could get a different vantage point for perhaps some more interesting images.

I eventually made it back around to the main crossing and settled on a spot near the station side of the intersection. There was a short, barricade-ish column that made for a perfect makeshift tripod- allowing me to play around with some longer exposures. Motion of the people against the non-moving structures.

I was there maybe 5 minutes before I was “ambushed” by a young street photographer who popped up right next to me and took my photo. He was decked out in a cardigan and skinny jeans, topped of by the classic 1950’s style black eyeglass frames without the lenses’. Photographically, he was equipped with a nice Leica M6 and 35mm lens.

I appreciated that he took a shot of me, the foreigner with the camera shooting the slightly stereotypical spot of Hachiko crossing. At the time he spotted me, I had the 70-200 on the camera which is a bit large and not at all discreet. We ended up having a nice conversation. Turns out he was 22, born in Japan (but grew up outside of NYC in Connecticut) and now lives in Nagoya. He was out for the weekend visiting Tokyo to do some photography and he said that he loves coming to Hachiko Crossing when he’s in Tokyo because of all the foreigners like me. Haha, glad I could be so typical. I gave him a card and we parted ways. At that point, I decided that it was time to move to a new spot. Rain was starting to fall and umbrellas were going up so, I put the 50mm back on the camera, pulled the rain cover over my camera bag and started meandering around the sidewalk.

 

It wasn’t more than maybe another 5 minutes before I ended up meeting another photographer. His day job was in IT (information technologies) but his passion he said was photography. (I found him interesting in that he had his fully packed camera backpack, with tripod attached, and was dressed in a suit- he was coming from work.) We chatted for a few minutes, and it turned out that he was originally from India but had been transferred to Tokyo, which he loved. We exchanged business cards and got back to our respective work. By now the rain was starting to come down hard enough that I pulled out my umbrella. It made for such a beautiful sight with the lights of the busy city reflecting off the ground and the many umbrellas creating these little floating tents.

I finally decided it was time to cross over to the other side and wandered into Starbucks in the Tsutaya bookstore. I ordered a coffee (even though it was hot and humid) and then headed to the second floor to try and get a seat that looked out over the crossing. Unfortunately, it was jammed packed so I was relegated to drinking my coffee standing up. I drank it pretty fast and then took some time to enjoy the air conditioning by looking through the music, you never know if you’re going to find something good and unavailable elsewhere.

I spent about a half hour looking at CD’s and listening to tracks. by that point that though, I was starting to get hungry. However, had no idea what I wanted to eat. I left Tsutaya and ended up out on on the street across from a McDonalds. As sad as It makes me to admit it, I gave in and headed into the Golden Arches to grab a quick dinner. My dining experience in McDonald’s that night was the worst I have ever had.

From the moment I stepped into the restaurant, I just could not cool off. I ordered the basic two cheeseburgers meal, and instead of waiting for them at the counter, they had me take my fries and drink and go sit down as the burgers needed to be cooked (they were pretty busy). So I went up to the second floor and found the only open single seat, at the counter looking out the window.

I sat down and set down my camera on he floor under my feet. Then, I immediately just started sweating, in a way reminisnet of my hike in Kurama. And as I tried to cool off, by either fanning myself or wiping my brow, I seemed to just draw more attention to myself. The young woman sitting to my right seemed to especially take note of my sad state. My meal ended being inhaled as I wanted to get out as fast as I could!

So, as soon as it was gone, I threw away my trash I got out of that McDonald’s as fast as I could and swore that it would a long time before I ever set foot in one again.

Back out on the street I made my way back to Hachiko Crossing. The rain had stopped for now and I was trying to decide if I was going to explore Shibuya any more or head back towards Shinjuku. Shibuya is a fun area, but I was getting tired and wanted to get myself packed before I went to bed so that I could get up early and just get out on the streets for my last day in Tokyo.

With my decision made to head back to Shinjuku, I crossed with the masses when the signal changed and headed for the station entrance. As I stepped back onto the sidewalk, I turned to look back one more time. The rain was starting to fall again and umbrellas were going back up. I paused to watch and take a few more photos. The colors of the reflected lights on the wet ground look so nice and everyone seemed to be just having a good time.

I spent 20 minutes watching and photographing before I finally made my way back into Shibuya Station. I caught the Yamanote line and was back in Shinjuku before I knew it.

Ameya-yokocho

Morning had arrived and I was dragging a bit waking up. I was definitely missing the first few days after arriving in Japan, where I could easily wake up at 6am and go all day. I was officially on Japan time just as my trip was wrapping up- perfect.

I got up and did my normal routine- ate my yogurt with Frosties, had some coffee, showered, gathered my gear then called home. While I was Facetime’ing with home, I began to notice balloons floating up past my window on the 26th floor. It was amusing to watch them float higher and higher, up past the top of the Tokyo Government Building (and its’ 48 floors) and then off into the far distant blue. Curious as to where the balloons came from, I peered out my window down to the street far below and saw some sort of celebration coming to an end. To mark the end of it, they released the balloons. Definitely a fun sight the to start the day with.

After hanging up with home, I finished my coffee and decided upon my first destination of the day, Ueno, and the open air alley market next to Ueno Station called Ameya-yokocho, or Ameyoko as it’s referred to these days. (The name “Ameya-yokocho” I guess means “candy alley” or something like that. And not to give anything away now, but I didn’t really see too much candy there. Guess I should have looked harder).

From Shinjuku Station, I caught the Chuo Rapid to Tokyo Station where I transferred to the Yamanote line heading north. (This might not really have been the fastest way there but it seemed like it on the map.) I got off the train at the south end of the market, at Okachimachi Station. The next stop, Ueno Station, would have put me at what I guess is the official entrance to Ameyoko, but I decided to be crazy and do it backwards.

(Side Note: Most of Tokyo is still fairly unknown to me. In all my trips to Tokyo I really haven’t been able to spend the amount of time I’d like to exploring it, the city is just too big. It would require living there and that just hasn’t worked out… yet. So today, I knew I wouldn’t get to see very much of the mega-city but I at least I would finally get to a couple spots I hadn’t yet been to.)

After exiting Okachimachi station, I was a little disoriented but quickly got myself pointed in the right direction. The streets here were wet, which surprised me. It must have rained in Ueno while I was enroute. The strange thing was, the trains that I rode to to Ueno were all above ground and I never saw it rain. In any case, it was crazy humid and seemed like it would start raining again soon.

The walk up from the station was short and I had to stop and wait at the stoplight before crossing to the south entrance of Ameyoko. There were a few people out but it wasn’t crowded by any means, much less crowded than I was expecting it to be.

Once the light changed, I crossed and entered into the market. All in all, I found it to be alright. I guess I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting, maybe something more like Nishiki Market? As I walked along, I thought about the ongoing conversation my wife and I have about what tourist do when they come to Los Angeles, what makes something worth seeing.

Historically, Ameyoko was a black market after World War II but walking through it now, I didn’t really get any sense of that history. I will say though that it has a charm that made me glad I was there. We definitely don’t have anything like it back home. I read that there are something like 180 shops in the market with another part that I didn’t see which has more upscale shops.

Not too far in, I came upon a stand set up underneath the cover of the overhead JR train tracks. They were cooking and selling what I think was Imagawayaki with an Okonomiyaki inspired filling (not sure why I didn’t ask what it was actually called as I have seen it before but never tried it). Deciding that I needed and snack, I ordered one, but had him leave off the mayonnaise. It was fun watching him cook and even better when I got to eat.

As I waited for my food, it started raining again, so after getting my food, I moved underneath the tracks to eat. Off in the opposite direction of the stand, in the not too far distance, I could see the new Tokyo Sky Tree still under construction. (It’s open now so I’ll have to go see it next time.) I do love towers and the amazing views they offer, especially here in Tokyo.

After about 10 minutes, the rain let up so off I went. I didn’t make too far up the market though before the rain hit again, this time much harder than before. I decided to get out of the rain and randomly ended up taking cover at a Shawarma stand which worked out great since I was still hungry after my first snack.

I ordered a Shawarma wrap and drink from the man behind the counter. He wasn’t Japanese, and didn’t seem at all interested in attempting to have any sort of conversation other than taking my order. I was curious as to why/how he ended up in Japan and if he owned this stand or what his whole story was. However, I suppose I’ll never know. Regardless of all that, the food I got was outstanding and really hit the spot.

The rain continued for quite a while this time, so after I finished eating, I had a good amount of time to just sit and watch the people stroll by, under their umbrellas. This spot would’ve been an amazing place to sit for the entire day and just people watch.

If only I wore ties.

It didn’t take me too much longer to make it to the other end of the market. Overall I enjoyed it and was glad I came, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of the must see list of Tokyo spots. However, if I lived in Tokyo, it would be a place I’d return to from time to time, just for the people watching. And Shwarma.

At the north entrance to Ameyoko, there is, surprise (not), Yodobashi Camera perched on the corner! And, as I was extremely hot (again) I wandered inside to get out of the heat. I spent maybe 30 minutes inside Yodobashi, looking at new ball heads for my tripod, playing with some cameras and cooling down before I made my way back out to the street.

The next stop of the day was Tokyo Tower, in hopes that I’d be able to catch a nice sunset. It was another tourist spot that I had yet to see in all my past trips to Tokyo and to get there I needed to catch the Yamanote line south to Hamamatsucho Station. I decided to wander the main street back to the station I started from, Okachimachi and see just a little bit more of Ueno on my way. The sun was now starting to poke out from behind the clouds and I started to think that just maybe, I might get to see a nice sunset from Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Tower

I made my way south to Tokyo Tower from Okachimachi station to Hamamatsu-cho station, via the Yamanote line. The sun seemed like it was really trying to break out of the clouds along the way.

Hamamatsu-cho station was still familiar to me from the week before so navigating through it was nice and quick. Emerging out onto the street in front of the World Trade Center Building that sits next the station, I hopped in a taxi and made my way to Tokyo Tower. 

The ride was actually much shorter than I’d anticipated, and before I knew it, I’d arrived right in front of the ticket windows of Tokyo Tower.

Standing on the ground and looking skyward, Tokyo Tower was impressive enough, with it’s international orange painted girders’s reaching high into the sky above. Maybe it’s not as elegant as say the Eiffel Tower, but it’s still magnificent enough and I was looking forward to the grand views of Tokyo that awaited me. The tower itself is 1,093 feet tall with the main observation deck located just about halfway up at a height of 450 feet. There is a higher deck (at 820ft high) but it seemed to have long wait for it, so I passed on it.

With my ticket in hand, I got in the elevator without even having to wait. A quick ride up, and I was on the observation deck, standing at the windows and peering out across the Tokyo skyline. 

The clouds weren’t clearing like I had hoped. I was a baffled by the fact that there was blue sky all around when I got in the elevator but in the it ride up, the blue just seemed to vanish. Oh well. The sun beams streaming through the clouds were a beautiful sight. And besides, there was enough time for the clouds to clear if they really wanted to. With that in mind, I took my time walking around the observation deck, enjoying the views of the giant metropolis below.

To the north, I could see the Tokyo Sky Tree and my favorite hotel in Shinbashi, the Dai-Ichi Hotel (in the lower left corner of the photo below.)

West was the Shio Dome (below) and Tsukiji Market near there.

To the south I could see planes landing at Haneda Airport, but in general, that view was kind of just so-so.

And let’s not forget the fun windows that look down through the floor to the ground far below. There are two, and I found it amusing to see who wouldn’t actually walk across the windowed floors.

(Slightly off topic: Tokyo Tower’s international orange paint made me think of an old joke from art school. That in the sculpture department, the joke went, that if you’re not sure what to do with a piece, then make it big and paint it orange, or something like that. Gotta love the art school humor.) 

After circling the observation deck a few times and visiting both floors (there are actually two floors in this lower part and even a Shinto Shrine), along with nothing much going on sunset-wise, I decided to sit down and enjoy an ice coffee and soft serve ice cream at the Cafe La Tour. Refreshing. 

After my snack, I made my way to the windows and did some more photography. The sun was actually trying it’s best and delivered this. Better than nothing I suppose.

The view down to the streets below was nice, but I regretted not having an even longer lens or a teleconverter on me so that I could have gotten some shots with even greater compression to them. Still, I enjoyed what I got.

As I wrapped up my time in Tokyo Tower, I watched the dark, heavy rain clouds move in, darkening a sky that was already growing dark from the fading light of day. There was sure to be more rain tonight at some point, not to mention a crazy amount of humidity in the air. 

(Oh, and there’s Shinjuku out in the distance, top right skyline, in the photo above.) 

By now it was 6:15pm and I decided it was time to leave. So, I got in the elevator and headed to the ground. It let me out on the second floor of the four story building (at the tower’s base) called Foot Town. (It’s home to several attractions, like the Tokyo Tower Wax Museum and Aquarium Gallery but none of that really interested me that night.)

The second floor, where I was now, was simply souvenir shops and restaurants and I made my way through it kind of quick. I did briefly stop to admire the scale model of Tokyo Tower next to the exit, but thats about it. 

Outside, it was dark now. I decided to walk back to Hamamatsu-cho station in a route that would take me down and past the Tokyo Prince Hotel and Zoujou-ji Temple. It was a nice walk, although it was far more humid than it was when I went up into Tokyo Tower and I was sweating like mad. There weren’t many people out at all, it was far quieter than I thought it would be. I guess this area is more business and not at all residential?

I love construction zones here in Japan. So neat and organized.

It wasn’t long before I ended up at Zoujou-ji, walking down the sidewalk that ran along side it. The sidewalk bordered up against the cemetery garden containing small statues of Jizo, the protecter of unborn children in Buddhism. The statues are decorated by parents with clothes and small toys, and then prayed to so as to make sure the unborn children make it into the afterlife guarded by Jizo.

It was a somber thing for me to see, and I stopped for a while and sat quietly with them. The wind would blow gently and spin the pinwheels. Nobody else passed me the entire time I was there. It felt a little strange.

From there it wasn’t much longer to the train station. My feet were getting tired and it was starting to lightly rain. I have to come back to Zoujou-ji next time I’m in Tokyo for sure. I never realized it was there and what it is, importance-wise.

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Order is everywhere and reinforcing that idea is this feature on the sidewalk where I stopped and waited to cross the street in front of Zoujou-ji. 

I like that there is an official “wait” spot on the sidewalk. “とまれ” (tomare, written inside the circle) means stop in Japanese. The footprints were very helpful indeed.

Next stop for the day’s (or now night’s) journey was the ever popular Shibuya. See you there!　

行こうか？