Shimbashi and Ginza!

On November 29th, 2012, we went to The Shimbashi and Ginza area! Unfortunately we were not able to go inside the reconstruction of the Old Shimabshi Station, which is where Japan's first railway was opened in 1872. It's amazing to see how much the transit system in Tokyo has developed since that first train, and how much the city depends and has been shaped by the trains and subways here. In "Tokyo in Transit," the author states that "Tokyo vehicles are social and cultural spaces different from the New York subway, London Tube, Paris Metro, Mumbai railway, and other metropolitan commuter networks" (Freedman 2).
Never having been to the stations Freedman mentions, I can't personally confirm whether his statement is correct or not. But the stations which their multiple floors filled with stores of any kind, and the way people commute everyday without seeming to notice anyone else around them, do seem unique to me. Freedman also states "behaviors and interactions not possible elsewhere occur inside passenger cars and in stations" (2). People use these trains and stations to commute, to go shopping, and to meet friends at. A major station hubs such as Shinjuku, it is not even necessary to leave the station if you want to eat, try on clothes, or buy omiyage. It always surprises me how crowded these areas are as well.

Since we weren't able to visit the museum in the Old Shimabshi Sation, we next went to the Panasonic Living Center, a showroom of different styles of furniture and other things you could use in your home. This showroom definitely intrigued me. Essentially I didn't really understand the purpose of such a showroom. Who was the showroom made for? It seemed like there were business people on tours, so I guess the showroom is an area to show off new products to certain clients? There were also some non-business looking people there as well, who must have been looking at products to buy (I'm assuming you can buy the products you see at the showroom, but it could also just strictly be a showroom).
A lot of the styles I saw there seemed more Western; I could imagine a lot of those rooms being in a Western magazine about interior design, etc. There was some mixing of Western and Japanese culture, however, such as a tatami room with a kotatsu, as well as the traditional bathing area where the shower is outside of the bathtub. Most of the items there seemed high tech. For example there were multiple examples of toilets with various (and probably not needed) functions. There was also an area that showed some sort of machine which changed the water you used to bathe in (to make the water better for your skin possibly?).
One thing that surprised me while I was there was the size of the rooms and the furniture. True, a lot of the items there were made to maximize the use of space (such as a chair with storage under it, etc.), but a lot of the furniture seemed to be on the bigger size for Tokyo living. Most of the living spaces in Tokyo are incredibly small, and a large amount of people live by themselves, so the items shown in this showroom are most likely not made for those people. These rooms seemed to represent an "ideal" or "dream" home. Many of the items seemed very expensive as well, so I do not think most typical Tokyo families would own most of the things shown in the Panasonic showroom.

The host family I am living with now is a bit more on the affluent side, so some of the products in the showroom could be owned by my family. My host family does have a decent sized table and dinning area, but the kitchen here is no where as big as some of the kitchens at the showroom. The bathroom here is also a decent size, but many of the bathtubs at the showroom were bigger. Here's a picture of the layout of the mansion room I live in (not to scale).

After the showroom we walked around past the Nippon Television Tower and headed for the Caretta Shiodome building where we stopped at the ADMT Advertising museum which showed the progression of advertising in Japan over the years. The area around the Shiodome building was so quite and empty at the time we were there. It was quite unlike other sections of Tokyo which are constantly bustling with activity. Since the area seems to be mainly a business section, most people must have still been working at that time. After 5pm, however, it was pretty crowded in certain areas, especially by the lights. One of our group members stayed at a hotel in the area before and said there was a great view of the city, so we went to that hotel to see the view. It really was amazing, the city looks so different from above.

When we were done at the advertising museum, we saw the Caretta Shiodome lights for Christmas. It was very crowded there! I saw the crowd before the lights, so I was expecting something amazing, but the lights seemed pretty normal; there was nothing too exciting about them, although they were pretty. Christmas is definitely a couple holiday here. Throughout Tokyo there are multiple illumination spots, and so far every illumination place I've been to has had something aimed at couples and there were many couples there. At Shiodome there was a lighted tree that couples could stand under and have their picture taken. I also recently went to an illumination area at Shinjuku, and there was also a machine where couples could put there hands on and then a colored light would appear which had a certain meaning (When I did it with one of my friends we got red which stood for courage). I think it's interesting to note that in the states lights are usually a residential experience, towns usually don't have too many big illuminations, but here the city has multiple illuminations throughout the month.

From the Shiodome area w walked to Ginza, a popular shopping center in Tokyo. The main street of Ginza is filled with many brand shops, although there are also more typical shops such as UniQlo, Forever 21, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc., as well. The area was a bit crowded with people shopping or just taking in the sights. There are not as many department stores in this area either. I've gotten the impression from Ginza that the area is a bit more high class than some other popular shopping areas in Tokyo such as Harajuku. It seems to be a richer area, and definitely has different feeling from Shinjuku or Shibuya where the streets wind and curve. The Ginza street, Chuo Dori, was straight and big (I'd like to go sometime on a Sunday when the main street is closed off from traffic so pedestrians can walk there). During the Taisho era, the mobo and mogo "'Modern Boy' and 'Modern Girl'" could be found in Ginza since it was the main fashion center at the time (Mansfield 164-165). According to Mansfield, Ginza used to be a popular cafe area back then. While I was walking down Ginza I did not happen to notice any cafes, but I could have just not seen them. It also seems that while Ginza is still a popular shopping area, other places such as Omotesando and Harajuku have become more popular and have taken over as the main fashion centers.