Japan may well have suffered several decades of economic stagnation, but Tokyo is still a city very much in flux, with buildings both big and small going up and down at an almost dizzying pace. A transformation generally done in the name of progress, but which at the same time often destroys a good deal of the city’s character — even its soul if one is inclined to get a little sentimental about such things.
The wonderfully archaic Tsukiji fish market will soon move to new premises, and Kabukicho, the capital’s famous red light district, is steadily undergoing massive changes — with far more dramatic ones already being put forward in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. A ‘clean-up’ that some fear will also include Golden Gai, potentially depriving the city of another of its icons, not to mention a link to the past.
But that’s not to say that other old, practically untouched pockets of Tokyo don’t exit, because they do. Like this fabulously dated sweet shop for example. A business that with a bit of luck will live on for as long as its owner does, although the chances of it going on to outlive him are sadly next to none.
Chris says
No way can golden gai go! That place is a gem, and is way too unique to just knock down in hope of modernizing things.
Lee says
I know. Couldn’t agree more. But I honestly think its days are numbered. The excuse will probably be that it’s a fire hazard.
Just hope I’m wrong…
Chris says
Yeah it’s definitely a fire hazard!
What about æ€ã„å‡ºæ¨ªä¸ on the other side of the tracks?
Willy says
that place actually did patially burn down a few years ago.. but it got rebuilt i believe..
Lee says
Yeah, it was rebuilt after a fire. About a decade or so ago if I remember correctly.
Perhaps due to its popularity, and relative cleanliness, I haven’t heard anything about it being knocked down, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Hans ter Horst says
A good thing the Olympics weren’t assigned to Kyoto or Nara 🙂
Lee says
Haha, that’s very true!
Squidpuppy says
Exactly the kind of candy shop I went to when I was a tyke growing up in Tokyo. With my friends, Japanese and expat kids “gone native”, and a fist full of five and ten yen coins, I’d get Kuro Ame (burnt sugar candy), Konpeito (star shaped sugar candy), Kanten (dried agar bars), dried Umeboshi, Yokan (red bean jelly), Su-Konbu (sweet & sour dried kelp), Saki Ika (sweet dried squid), Ramune, and even candied, fried grasshoppers once. They came in a bag like any other loose candy. Super sweet, crunchy, kind of nutty. Kid gross constant dare.
I went to different shops if I wanted more Western style candy like Fruits Drops, Milky, chocolate bars (Meiji, Morinaga, Lotte), Glico caramels, or Botan Ame, which I oddly didn’t think of as Japanese, because I first had it in the US. This was all way before Poki, or any of the newfangled stuff.
Pretty happy I can still get all of that at my local Japanese market – well, except for the grasshoppers…
Lee says
Happy days eh?
I’ve found similarly old shops back in the UK when I go back, and they are packed full of memories as well as goodies. Never any fried grasshoppers though!