What Became of Wash Heights? 4

Takeshite Dori, the main shopping street, just steps from Harajuku station		A Grateful Dead tie-dye  and heavy metal shop

 

Some things in Harjuku .. and in the back streets of Tokyo .. are the same as it ever was: men playing go.	Mostly old men .. but always ..	..men.  I never saw a woman playing.

 

A typical Japanese shop, and the way it used to be in the U.S. big cities last century, with the shop owners living above the store.  A one minute commute to work.	Tiny police boxes dot all of Tokyo, the ultimate in community policing.  And the bikes are how they cover their beat.

 

The shopping on Takeshite Dori in Harajuku draws people from all over Tokyo.  The shops carry merchandise aimed at young people, and the streets are mobbed every day.

 

On weekends, you have to walk your bike if you're heading through this street.

 

One ceramics store looks like a temple.	It's easy to get lost; the small  streets all look alike.

 

The only time to see the streets this empty is at 7:00 AM.

Daily life goes on as it ever did.  Papa-san on his way to work on a scooter.  Mama-san shops for dinner.

A shop owner unpacks a delivery to start a new day, oblivious to dead gaijin Col. Sanders next door and the ubiquitous Mickey D's down the street.

Spain Dori has all the latest young fashions.	A bullet train speeds past, on its way to the Tokyo station.

 

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