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2003.12.23
Setagaya’s famous “Rag Market”
observes 425th anniversary
 In
1578, the district of Setagaya in Musashi Province (today a residential
area in west Tokyo) arranged for a “Raku-ichi,” a place
where merchants could freely engage in commerce under the protection
of the feudal lord. In those days, a flourishing trade existed in
boro, or scraps of cloth, which could be used for patching farming
clothes or for weaving into straw sandals. The event was so successful
that Setagaya’s “Boro-Ichi,” or Rag Market, became
a popular annual event that in 2003 observed its 425th anniversary.
For four days each year -- on December 15-16 and January 15-16 -–
Setagaya still holds its Boro-ichi on the same spot where it has always
been, along a kilometer-long street past his lordship’s former
residence. (The thatched-roof official residence, called the “Daikan
Yashiki,” still stands, and has been officially designated a
national cultural treasure.)
 The
“rags” of yore have given way to antique silk kimono and
occasionally even French designer goods. On each of the days the market
is held, huge crowds, estimated to number as many as 200,000 people,
converge on the street to gawk and shop at 700 makeshift stands that
offer practically everything imaginable: potted plants, including
bonsai (dwarf pines); porcelain and other ceramic goods; used kimono;
and old electric appliances such as AM radios from the pre-transistor
era. Other stalls hawk old military medals, unusual rocks and fossils,
vinyl LP records, antique books, magazines and posters -- almost any
type of bric-a-brac imaginable, some rare and even valuable, but mostly
just tacky. Still other vendors sell their own original handicrafts,
some made right there on the spot.
In addition to being popular with collectors, the December fair is
a good time for housewives to stock up on comestibles before the coming
New Year, including such items as shichimi-togarashi, a special seven
pepper mixture sold in small gourds that are closed with a wooden
stopper. Other seasonal items include mochi (a type of chewy cake
made from glutinous rice); pickles of all sorts; and traditional Japanese
confections.
The Rag Market is great fun. From 9 a.m. to its close at 9 p.m.,
people of all ages can be seen strolling along munching on walk-away
snacks such as oden (a hodgepodge of boiled fish sausages, vegetables
and other odds and ends), hot buttered potatoes, cotton candy and
cups of hot “amazake,” a sweet beverage made from the
dregs of rice wine left over from the brewing process. Local merchants
with shops on the street usually suspend their regular business
to take part in the fair.
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2003.12.01
Hotel accommodates history
During 2003, Tokyo has been observing its 400th anniversary since
becoming Japan’s administrative capital. It was in 1603 that
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun, established his military government
in what was then known as Edo. When Emperor Meiji transferred the
imperial household from Kyoto in 1869, the city’s name was changed
to Tokyo, establishing it as the national capital.
Jumping on the history bandwagon, the Sunshine City Prince Hotel in
Tokyo’s Toshima Ward has come up with a package program aimed
at history buffs. Named the “Edo Roman Burari Sanpo” (Edo
Romantic Leisurely Stroll), the program will feature seminars by Ko
Sugiura -- a noted authority on the city’s topography -- using
ancient maps of and other materials to provide background for walks
around the city’s historic sites.
The first program began on November 22. Following the lecture at 10:30
a.m., participants would partake a meal prepared in traditional Edo-era
style, including such dishes as soba (buckwheat noodles) and tofu
(bean curd), as described in the works of the late Ikenami Shotaro,
a popular writer of historical novels set in Edo.
After lunch, participants will then take the train to the Ueno district
(see ancient map), where they will visit such landmarks as the Ueno
Toshogu Temple and “Toki no Kane,” a bell featured in the
haiku (three line, 17-syllable poem) by the noted Edo-era poet Matsuo
Basho that reads:
Hana no kumo
Kane wa Ueno ka
Asakusa ka
Flowery clouds
Does the bell toll in Ueno
Or Asakusa?
The program is limited to a maximum of 50 participants who can
take part the seminar, lunch and field only, or, if they choose,
spend the night at the Sunshine Prince hotel at a special reduced
rate.
The Sunshine Prince hopes to attract members of the older generation,
but says the program is open to people of all ages. It plans to
continue the events next January, March and May.
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2003.10.01
Urbanites converge on "shopping theme parks"
Over the past year, Tokyo has seen three enormous new glittering complexes
open their doors to the public.
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The Marunouchi Building, located a short walk from
Tokyo Central Station in the city's main business district,
been attracted about 20 million visitors since its opening on
September 6, 2002. The "Maru Biru" (as it's called)
is configured with boutiques and shops on floors 1 through 4,
casual restaurants on floors 5 and 6, and swank restaurants
on its upper two floors. In the first basement is a delicatessen
selling take-away items prepared by the famous restaurants. |
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Shiodome City Center, on the site of a former railway
marshalling yard located close to the Ginza/Shimbashi area,
opened on April 10, 2003. It is adjacent to Caretta Shiodome,
which opened last December. The Shiodome complex will eventually
encompass no fewer than 13 high-rise buildings, including the
headquarters of major television station Nippon TV, one of Japan's
leading advertising company Dentsu and other major corporations,
apartment blocks and entertainment-shopping facilities. |
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Roppongi Hills, the brainchild of real estate magnate
Minoru Mori, opened on April 25, 2003. The new complex, covering
11.6 hectare close in an area with many foreign embassies and
some of Tokyo's most affluent neighborhoods, includes the 54-story
Mori Tower, headquarters of the Asahi TV network, offices, apartments,
a hotel, cinema complex, and 200 specialty stores, restaurants
and clubs. |
With these so-called "shopping theme parks," marketers appear
to be aiming at two main groups: affluent singles and members of the
post-WW2 baby boomer generation, whose children are now grown and
who are now at the peak of their earning powers. The greater Tokyo
area already boasts about 20 such facilities and more are in the works.
They include high-rise buildings, low-slung shopping malls, and factory
outlet style complexes. |
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