A few scenes from the world’s largest city: the greater Tokyo metropolitan area has over 40 million people in it. Still, there are a few pockets of calm… this is Arisugawa park, right in the middle of Hiro-o, one of the most upscale districts of the city.
Calm in the City
Amazingly, numbers in the city are not sequential. They are not even linear. They are concentric. So you might live on block 13, section 12, neighborhood 14 of Roppongi district in Minato-ward of Tokyo. So yes, getting around can be a challenge. Luckily each neighborhood has a map!
Getting around without numbers
I couldn’t believe this cute little noodle shop was still standing after all these years! It had not been swallowed up by the city. Another place was, though…just blocks away was a famous little hovel of a house surrounded by sky-scraping apartment buildings; the owner posted huge signs in his front yard declaring “I will never, ever sell this piece of land!”
The little noodle shop that could
Koto-dori is where the antique shops used to be located. It has been taken over by the fashion houses who either cannot afford to be on Omotesando, or who eschew it for the “boutique” look. I opened one of the first fashion stores on this street, Hunting World, in 1982 followed by Tommy Hilfiger in 1985.
Koto-dori fashion
