More Japan

Four in the morning and the alarm clock went off for our visit to Tsujiki fish market, which hosts a din of activity and the famous tuna auction. It's early, you can get splashed or run over by the buzzing carts, but it's a spectacle. Before dawn, an unbelievable sum is spent on the freshest giant Bluefin, Yellowfin, Albacore, and Bigeye tuna harvested from every corner in the world.  The size of the fish is amazing!  Then there are the acres of remaining seafood that make most other fish markets look like roadside stands.  We continued to sniff around and finished off with a sushi breakfast, all before 7 AM!

Asakusa is older Tokyo.  It was a little disappointing as there really isn't much historical remaining.  There is one main touristy thoroughfare lined with small shops selling not so cheap trinkets, fans, t-shirts, keychains, the usual. And the humidity was oppressive already.

The Ginza area is a concrete boulevard of opulence.  It's Japan's answer to everything expensive and extravagant that can be contained in a boutique.  Interesting to note how much names on articles can fetch.  We met up with my old friend, Johnny, and perused the more interesting small side streets.  Amidst the astronomically priced real estate, an old man waits for customers in a dingy 10-foot wide, single story shop containing at most 7 pairs of shoes on empty shelves.  Visa, Mastercard, Diner's Club, and more than a dozen cards are accepted according to the dusty window.   The Sony building houses a myriad of gadgets that bring out the inner child, though the sophisticated electronics are nothing but adult.   There are "a million" shops and nearly as many places to eat.  

A one-hour train ride from Tokyo station through Yokohama, dialed back the clock to the small coastal hamlet of Kamakura. The sun was out and life was slow.  On rented bikes, the wind swept through our hair in the narrow windy roads en route to the Big Buddha statue and several impressive old temples, serene gardens, and evocative shrines.  Closer to the water, ice cream shops and beach shacks emerged, as well as people ridinglongboards on gentle one and a half foot waves.  

Back in Tokyo, the Ginza was lit up and alive with well-dressed folks heading for a night out. The Tonkatsu was good again.