My Marriott Courtyard hotel is tucked into the 4th floor of a building just outside the upscale shopping area of Tokyo, the Ginza district. Here are some pictures of my walkabout there last night.
‘We’re sorry!’ says the little picture after the ATM had declined my debit card. I eventually found an ATM that gave me cash; I should have gotten some Yen at the airport, though. Amazingly, Japan still transacts in cash. You put your cash in a little tray, and the change gets put back in it with your receipt, a little ritual. It does seem to me that most stores grudgingly accept credit cards and maybe they do so for me just because I am a foreigner.Japanese porcelain maker Noritake has moved their store from Akasaka to the Ginza district, and I eventually found it. This set of mini serving plates is gorgeous! .. just a little pricey at US$240 for the set. And it’s not like I have 5 people over every other night at my house to serve up little tidbits to! (unfortunately).Yes, it is Christmas in Japan as well. (Missing : the pervasive Christmas jingles playing in the stores the way we do it in US shopping malls). There are little Christmas trees lining the street in the Ginza district, with wishes of Merry Christmas in the windows, and a Happy Holidays here and there, as well.I love this lit up creature – a salamander, maybe? – on the Bulgari jewelry store.Lots of blue in the Fendi storefront, and check out the fluffy creature (from the Blue Lagoon?) in the window.It’s just after 10 pm, and the Apple store’s employees are wiping away the days smudges from the demonstration devices in the store.One of the flagship department stores, the Matsuya Ginza. By day there is a Japanese national flag (the red sun on the white) on a flagpole on top of the building.
2 Replies to “Friday/ the Ginza district”
Travel safely, Willem. merry Christmas to you and the rest of the aldrich family!! Call us when u get there. Enjoy yourself and take lots of photos so we can see the lay of the land and how it works for our family down under. Love, Krista
hi Krista,
Thanks for the Christmas wishes and the message. Yes, we will check in with you from Perth on Christmas Day Down Under! Warm regards to Piet and the boys there as well. love, Willem
Travel safely, Willem. merry Christmas to you and the rest of the aldrich family!! Call us when u get there. Enjoy yourself and take lots of photos so we can see the lay of the land and how it works for our family down under. Love, Krista
hi Krista,
Thanks for the Christmas wishes and the message. Yes, we will check in with you from Perth on Christmas Day Down Under! Warm regards to Piet and the boys there as well. love, Willem