what a great essay! I am hoping to visit Japan within the next couple of years, and when I go I want to stay for awhile, maybe a couple of months. The pictures you shared remind me of my visits to Japan in the 1970s. I would love to experience that Shōwa environment again! I'll definitely save this essay so that I can find this area when I go. I'm not a big drinker, but I love the idea of traditional butcher, etc. Maybe I can even find an apartment nearby?
Many thanks for your comment. I hope you'll make your visit to Japan just on time. Elevated railway construction is always a trigger to make huge changes to the local community.
I had a quick look at the property for rent, and you can find a small apartment with a unit bathroom for as low as 40,000 Yen monthly.
Hideo, is it easy to rent an apartment at this kind of price for a month or 6-week visit to Tokyo? Or in other parts of Japan, say Okinawa? Airbnb seems much more!
You'll better hurry because has Hideo pointed out, Tateishi's shitamachi atmosphere is fast disappearing. I hope it will still be there in two years but I doubt it.
Four years should be long enough to change the whole landscape of Tateishi.
The composition of local landowners is too complicated, and there are many twists and turns to be expected in the future development of the situation, but it is a great pity that the 'Showa box garden' is destined to disappear.
As you point out, greedy estate agents are in the dark behind large-scale developments. Such contractors are making money by pretending the convenient excuses of 'disaster prevention'.
what a great essay! I am hoping to visit Japan within the next couple of years, and when I go I want to stay for awhile, maybe a couple of months. The pictures you shared remind me of my visits to Japan in the 1970s. I would love to experience that Shōwa environment again! I'll definitely save this essay so that I can find this area when I go. I'm not a big drinker, but I love the idea of traditional butcher, etc. Maybe I can even find an apartment nearby?
Many thanks for your comment. I hope you'll make your visit to Japan just on time. Elevated railway construction is always a trigger to make huge changes to the local community.
I had a quick look at the property for rent, and you can find a small apartment with a unit bathroom for as low as 40,000 Yen monthly.
Hideo, is it easy to rent an apartment at this kind of price for a month or 6-week visit to Tokyo? Or in other parts of Japan, say Okinawa? Airbnb seems much more!
You'll better hurry because has Hideo pointed out, Tateishi's shitamachi atmosphere is fast disappearing. I hope it will still be there in two years but I doubt it.
Tateishi! I went there four years ago when my magazine did a Katsushika Special and I loved it. I also wrote about it when I interviewed Tsuge Tadao.
I wanted to try oden at a famous shop inside the shopping arcade but it wasn't ready yet, so I had lunch at Sakae-sushi. No booze for me, though.
It's just too bad that such places are destroyed by greedy companies.
Four years should be long enough to change the whole landscape of Tateishi.
The composition of local landowners is too complicated, and there are many twists and turns to be expected in the future development of the situation, but it is a great pity that the 'Showa box garden' is destined to disappear.
As you point out, greedy estate agents are in the dark behind large-scale developments. Such contractors are making money by pretending the convenient excuses of 'disaster prevention'.
Fascinating post!
Thanks for your comment, Suellen. I hope my post will help travelers understand the disappearing old Tokyo.