Tokyo Water World and Shopping in Sugamo

Tuesday we hopped the subways again to visit the north end of Tokyo Bay and the reclaimed land there. In that area the roads are wide and straight and the sidewalks are lined with planters. This time of year the azalia hedges are in bloom.

Left side of sidewalk

Right side between sidewalk and road

The building you can see in the distance is one of several huge malls in the area with several floors of shops, entertainment areas and restaurants.

Too much good ramen makes my belly bulge

We surveyed the view of waterfront and bridges and then found a restaurant to have Kyushu style Ramen. I had one of the Fukuoka specialties, pork bone soup ramen with soft boiled egg, picked mustard greens and pork belly.

I don't know how many restaurants there were in the mall but there were restaurants serving cuisines representative of most parts of Japan.

There were other restaurants from around the world, including many of the fast food restaurants from America

I guess some people come out here just to have some food from back home, wherever that might be.


Shopping in Sugamo, The Old Ladies' Harajuku.

Harajuku, an area in Tokyo, is the Japanese (some say world) capital of youth fashion. Sugamo, not far away, is the place to go when you're older and slower. We're older and slower so we went there Wednesday.

Jizo Dori (street) from near the station is about 800 meters long and lined with some 200 shops that cater to older folks.

Beginning of the shopping street not far from the station

Most of the stores that line the street are small but they are all interesting. Many of the stores featuring rice crackers, pickles and other edibles give out samples. It gives the potential buyer a way to try out the goods before buying. I like the system but I suppose the FDA or EPA or ECC or TSA or some other alphabetized government agency would prevent such a sensible way of doing business in the US.  

Not far into the street there is a small temple, Kokanji Temple, which features a Tokenuki Jizo statue which shows the Jizo Bodhisattva, thought to heal all sorts of bodily ailments. People queue up to wash the statue with small towels which are then placed next to the painful part of the body in hopes of a cure.

First water is poured over the statue 

The statue being wiped so the clothes can be placed on the body to cure ailments

A little after noon we waited in line for a table at a popular restaurant. We had some excellent meals of fried fish or shrimp or both. I had grilled salted mackerel teishoku (meal set) and a large (633 ml) beer. It's getting harder to find the large bottles in popular tourist areas. I guess the restaurants make a better profit on the standard 334 ml size.

One of the many stores selling edibles. These small pancakes will be filled with sweet bean paste like sweet sandwiches

The final product, bean paste between branded pancakes ready for sale. Great with hot green tea

After lunch we bought some sweets to take back to the hotel and then boarded our train for home.