Sorry, no time to get up a real post about dinner (Saturday and Sunday nights were both quite good!), but here’s a little randomness from Saturday afternoon in Ginza, pre-dinner.
‘White Rose’ has always amused me. It’s a hostess club, but it sort of inverts the whole ‘privacy and discretion’ thing that I associate with such clubs by being bright blue and facing the street at ground level. It’s a sort of industrial-size hostess club. Been there forever, as far as I know.
The cutest thing is this map on the wall outside, with a map of Japan and pins telling you which girls come from which parts of Japan. I like to think this is for regional businessmen come to Tokyo for big trips, wanting to experience the glamor of Tokyo and yet talk to a girl from their own state.
Moving over to Matsuya department store for shopping, they’re so classy that they even monogram the urinals. Good thing I dind’t pan down a little more while taking this one. Whew!
There was a special exhibit of ‘craft shoes’, where people could combine different decorative modes with heels. In this case, they were encouraging people to crochet and then affix the output to their toes. I didn’t take a picture of the pottery-making one. It was pretty incredible to see these boots with plates glued all over them.
On a more serious note, Wako (another department store, not just underwear as I had thought, but with a distinctly older, almost musty, vibe) had a sign on the street saying they had an ‘exhibit’ of cut glass. As with most department store ‘exhibits’, it’s a small collection of stuff that they’re trying to get you to buy, but you have to approach Ginza in the right spirit, and the right spirit is to treat the shopping as entertainment, regardless of your socioeconomic status or purchasing proclivities. I love cut glass, and this was a neat little show.
These rocks glasses were my favorite. How much would you pay? I grant you, they’re hand-made and quite elaborate. So…how about it? If you’re not willing to pay well north of $300, you’re not taking one home. Over $1,000 for all three, I think.
Must dash. More later.
Interesting post for the non foodies out here. Our blogger seems to be expanding his topics with this post, random daily shots, and the recent video.
I'll bet soon JNTO will pay you to do this and you can quit your day job.