Set Up

If you followed me yesterday (I won't speculate on whether you did or not, and just assume that you did and pat myself on the shoulder), then I have to preface by saying that this following episode is a prequel, or at least what I did before being entranced by the Vermeer painting.

Again, it was my one full day in Tokyo, and so I asked my friend (and former flatmate in London from nearly two decades ago, who is a real Tokyoite- born and raised there, as I am a real New Yorker- born and raised) what places he recommended which still maintained some sense of the old, of traditional, far away from the blaring video screens and crowds so beloved by tourists.  Among the places he suggested, which was not far to travel, was a place called Sendagi.

Now, when I got off the subway, I was a bit surprised that I was the only one.  When I stepped out of the station, again, it seemed like I was in the wrong place, as it was a mixture of working area and residential.  But I am sure that it was just around the corner, and after twenty minutes of waiting for my friend (which I gainfully spent at the used bookstore, where I completed my collection of a certain manga series from the 1950s-60s), we made our way there.

And, it was surely rewarding, and it was one of the small pockets of the city which time seemed to have pass by.  Most of the people there were retirement age, and there was even a tour group of them.  For me, that is an indication a place is of interest, as it was, with all its small food stands and shops.  As we were leaving, we hit upon this one alley, which was a jackpot- as my friend's friend said later upon viewing the photos, "it looks like a stage set"

Exactly.  And, with nobody except the ghosts of the past around, you (and I) or anyone can be the star. Not to dramatize it, as there was one store which was open that sold crackers (senbei) and we had two of them- most enjoyable.

There it was, there, alone.