The best way to arrive at Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market is to take the water bus from Asakusa to the Gardens at Hama Rikyu. We avoided the subway (and crowds) altogether and enjoyed a beautiful, warm and sunny day. Our boat was decidedly older than the one in this picture. It was a converted steam ship from 1885!
Along the river I marveled at the variety of building sizes and the creative way designers must work to maximize square footage by going vertical on a small footprint.
The homeless camps on the river look just like those of long-term campers in U.S. state parks with tents, laundry lines, outdoor kitchens. I saw a guy sweeping up his area to keep it tidy.
We almost missed our stop at Hama Rikyu (former duck hunting grounds) because we were too busy looking around. This garden always amazes me because from almost any direction, the view includes the contrast of an old and carefully tended garden in front of giant highrises. There are more buildings now that I saw last time but maybe the building is finally slowing down.
Last time we were here in December 2005, we saw a blue mesh net over this area that now bursts with Rape flowers and photographers.
We walked over to Tsukiji so Larry could add to his knife collection. In the maze of shops, we somehow always find the same one where the owner's son lives in Omaha.
The lines for some sushi stands are long and probably indicate the best restaurants in the market. Sushi doesn't get any fresher than here!
After a great okonomiyaki lunch and a fascinating visit to the Museum of Advertising and Design (where no pictures are allowed,) we headed for Ito-Ya in Ginza. We found it easily by it's giant red paperclip sign. This place has 9 (skinny) floors of art and office supplies! Some of the calligraphy brushes in this picture cost several hundred dollars. This is obviously the pro line!
The selection of colored pencils alone was staggering!
After a long late afternoon of checking on hostels for the study abroad class, we finally had dinner at the "best kaiten-zushi place in Japan" that happened to be a couple short blocks from our ryokan. Although diners choose their sushi from plastic plates going by on a conveyor belt, the quality is outstanding. We were floored by the flavor and texture of each one- many were the best of their kind we had ever tasted. I had to try this beautiful California roll (with lettuce!) but I'm counting on Larry and Frauke to tell the rest.
As always, great photos! So much for you to see, so little time. I wonder is you are keeping up with your agenda. ~ M ~ D ~
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