Your Neighborhood Market.

Within walking distance from anyone's home in Tokyo, it seems that it is possible to find a narrow pedestrian-friendly marketplace where one can find fresh seafood, produce, baked goods, yakitori, and hairdressers in one convenient location. These areas typically lack a strong corporate presence and are usually demarcated by entrances that are somewhat reminiscent of Chinatown gates, though the Japanese counterparts are much less elaborate. This particular shopping area is near the Nippori station on the Yamanote line.


How much thinner would North Americans be if they simply walked to the places that they shopped?


T

Under the Bridge.

Cabs wait patiently for passengers to file out of the train station.

It's remarkable how no space goes unnoticed or unoccupied. The space below the railway lines and freeways are used here by small eateries and vendors hawking everything imaginable. In other areas of town, these spaces are occupied by high-end department stores and restaurants. The unintended but beautiful consequence is that these places become cacophonous and disjunctive zones of activity, where anything can be expected.

Around the Neighborhood.

Within a few km sq...

Ueno Park... Expressways snaking through the city... One of the 2M+ vending machines in the city... Unsecured bikes (the norm in Tokyo)... and sashimi in the market below my apt...