Memories of Japan (Part Four) From the eleventh floor of the Isetan department store in Kyoto station, you can see the whole city. Its rectilinear boulevards of clean, modern buildings - shops, offices and hotels - stretch away into the haze of the hills that surround it on three sides. Criss-crossing them are neat, narrow …
Tag: Japan
Sashimi, Shoes and Suzuki (Part Three)
Further Memories of Japan In Kyoto, the sakura blossom will be opening, a sure sign that spring has begun. In the Nagano highlands it is still winter. The mountains that ring Matsumoto stand out, white-capped, in glorious vista-vision against the pale blue sky. In the crisp morning air, they seem closer and more three-dimensional than …
Sashimi, Shoes and Suzuki (Part Two)
More Memories of Japan The Japanese label their railway stations - and the destination boards - both in kanji and in romaji (western lettering). Thus, armed with a map of the system, you won’t miss your stop - in theory. However, buying a train ticket in Tokyo's Shinjuku-eki for the first time is an ordeal. …
Sashimi, Shoes and Suzuki (Part One)
Memories of Japan Irasshai-mas-ehhhh....! It is 10.30am in Ginza, Tokyo’s fashionable shopping precinct. The Hanyu depato - department store - has just opened. A dozen assistants assemble on the ground floor to greet the first customers of the day. They form a line. Bow politely. The last syllable of their welcome elongates and fades to …
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