Chuo-ku Tourism Association correspondent blog

Recently, Ginza has an increasing number of customers from overseas, and it seems that there are more foreigners in Weekdays than Japanese. It must be good for customers to buy a lot of souvenirs when they say "explosive buying".

The other day, I noticed walking around Ginza, but when I walked from 1-chome to 8-chome, the state of the sidewalk changes from around 4-chome. "It's just like Paris." There is almost no trace of chewing gum on the sidewalk around Matsuya.

When you come around 6-chome, a lot of sightseeing buses are waiting for customers. On the sidewalk, there are times when foreign language speakers hang out and stay ahead. In addition, there are many traces of gum stuck on the sidewalk around it. It's just like Paris.

I like the city, and I like both Ginza and Paris, but I can't admire the dirt of the city of Paris. In Paris, both sidewalks and subways are dirty compared to Tokyo. I'm worried that if the traces of gum in Ginza increase as it is, it will not be far away from the sidewalks of Tokyo or the subway as much as Paris. It is said that money and garbage are stored in dirty places. I would like you to work on the beautification of the city of Ginza so that you do not fall into such a situation before the Tokyo Olympics.

It's been two years since the rebuilding of Kabukiza was completed. I've been taking pictures of the building many times before and after the rebuilding, but I didn't go inside. The other day, I had about an hour when I passed nearby, so I toured the building.

First of all, there are plenty of kabuki and Edo souvenirs at Kibikicho Square on the first basement floor, and I just bought it. After that, we took the elevator to the rooftop garden. Before visiting the essential garden, I stopped at the Kabuki Photo Studio. This is a shop that Studio Alice started in March, where you dress up as Kabuki and take pictures. It is a shop that says that she will take a commemorative photo with makeup, wig, dressing. There are various menus, and "Easy Dressing" is an intent to dress as a Kabuki actor and take pictures in just 5 minutes.

When I went there, a couple from Africa was taking pictures in the costume of Oishi built-in assistant and the dress of Oiran. In addition, at a simple price, you can take a commemorative photo of visiting Kabukiza theater, rent a kimono, watch a play or walk wearing a kimono, and I was very attracted to the business of my tourist guide .

On the 5th floor, in addition to the rooftop garden, there are Kabuki Gallery (paid) and cafes where you can enjoy a light meal at Mr. teahouse.

When you walk around Ginza, you may find something unexpected. On that day, I found a strange sign at 7-chome on Chuo-dori. When I saw "Ginza Ningyokan", I was a little worried about the man entering alone, but I was brave and tried to enter the shop on the second floor.

When I entered the shop, Antique Dole was on display throughout the shop. This store was a so-called antique Dole specialty store. When I ask the shop, Antique Dole says something made in France about 130 years ago. Later, it was made in Germany for a while, but now there is no workshop in Western Europe, and replicas are made in Japan.

It is said that Ginza Ningyokan has been relocated to its current location for 11 years, but it was said that it used to be about 6 and a half years at 6-chome before. The dolls on display were antiques and contemporary writers. It was so beautiful that I could not see which was old. Customers who love dolls came from all over Japan, and I was surprised to see Ryuishi and Ginza shops.

The Ginza Ningyokan holds not only the display and sale of dolls, but also various doll making classes by doll artists. I recommend that you stop by to see Kawai dolls.

The photos inside the store were kindly provided by "Ginza Ningyokan".

Unfortunately, it was unfortunate on Saturday, June 28, but I participated in "Edo digging and long-established tour". After gathering at the Nakagawa Funabansho Museum in Higashiojima, which I don't know much as a resident of Koto-ku, and reviewing the history of river traffic in Edo, the cruise finally began.

As a lecturer, Mr. Hisasome of the Nakagawa Funabansho Museum boarded and enjoyed a one-hour cruise with Nakagawa, Onagi River, Sumida River, and Nihonbashi River while listening to the famous tone. After receiving an explanation of the history of Fukagawa and Kiba, I passed the Ogibashi Lock Gate on the Onagi River on the way. This lock is an ultra-compact of the Panama Canal that adjusts the water level difference between the Onagi River and Sumida River. On the day, we were able to pour more than one meter and proceed to the Sumida River. I went up the Nihonbashi River and got off the boat at the dock at the base of Nihonbashi. There are many opportunities to see on the bridge, but it was a very interesting experience to see it from below.

From Nihonbashi, on behalf of Mr. Hisasome, Mr. Tsukada of the Nihonbashi Regional Renaissance 100-Year Planning Committee in the costume of a car husband was guided by Mikadokasa. First of all, after receiving an explanation of the bridge, we received a lunch centering on Edo vegetables at a restaurant "Honen Manpuku" with a riverbed. During that time, I also experienced throwing fans in the tatami room.

After lunch, we were divided into three groups and went to a long-established tour. We visited Yamamoto-noriten, Saruya, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store, and received an explanation of the store from the person in charge of each store. Yamamoto-noriten heard that actress Yoko Yamamoto has been registered with Guinness because he has been an image character for more than 40 years. I also heard interesting stories about Japan's first drive-through sales. Recently, there has been a collaboration with Kitty-chan, and I realized that the image of a long-established store changes with the times. At the end, I felt like I had a souvenir.

Mitsukoshi offers an in-store tour of about 2 hours free on the second Saturday of every month, but on the day we had a special 30-minute tour. I heard a lot of stories about the origin of Echigo-ya, the purpose of the statue of the heavenly woman, the tour of the ammonite, the location of the pipe organ pipe, the history of the lion, etc. that I would like to boast to people.

"Saruya" is a specialty store of black toothpicks that is unique in the world, founded in 1704. When asked why the toothpick shop was "Saruya", there was a clear answer saying, "Because the monkey's teeth are white, it doesn't matter." Originally, toothpicks are the mainstream, and with the spread of Western-style toothbrushes, the tufts disappeared, and only toothpicks remained.

Shotaro Ikenami often writes, "Fukagawa was Venice in the Orient." This cruise was interesting, and the tour around the long-established Nihonbashi area was not exhausted.

There are many small museums and entertainment venues on Ginza Street. Sometimes, when you drop in casually, you may encounter unexpectedly interesting things. I went to Ginza for the first time in a long time today and entered the Paula Museum Annex at 1-chome. This is the annex of the Pola Museum of Art, located in Hakone, a well-known place. If you look at the contents of today's exhibition next to the cosmetics shop on the first floor, there is one day, there is a place.　It was a photo exhibition of a young artist named Marisa Shimamoto. The poster uses photographs of rose flowers blooming in the city. These roses are thin and some flowers are withered. I don't know where the focus is. It's a workmanship far from the photos of Shotaro Akiyama I saw when I was young.

Attracted by the photos of this poster, when I entered the museum on the third floor, about 30 works were exhibited, all of which looked strange. When I looked at it roughly, it was just a picture that I could take. However, when I looked around again, I felt that there was some sense of unity and assertion in the work. I don't know what it was, but for some reason, it was just a good thing that attracted my heart. After all, on the way home, I bought a postcard of a rose flower work on the poster that I didn't know where the focus was.

The Paula Museum Annex is free, so I sometimes enter, but sometimes I encounter works that fall into my heart. Even now, I put a picture of Marisa Shimamoto's rose flower next to the computer and it is in the lingering sound. I am really grateful that this museum will hold an exhibition unique to Ginza, an adult city, as part of Pola's mecena activities.

The photo exhibition of Marisa Shimamoto's photo exhibition somdeday is scheduled to be held every day from 11:00 to 20:00 until July 21.

 One day in early April, I finished recording "I love Chuo-ku" on Chuo FM, but since there was a little time for lunch, I was worried about looking at Maruzen. On the way, when I suddenly noticed, next to the newly built Meijiya building in Kyobashi, there is a new building, Kyobashi Trust Tower, which displays "Coatyard by Marriott Tokyo Station".

Courtyard by Marriott is the name of a hotel that I often took care of, including when I was working in the United States, so I was worried and went inside. The front desk is on the 4th floor, and there is a large table in the lobby, and there are customers who operate PCs. When I talked to the woman in charge of the front desk, it was just opened on April 2nd. This slightly unusual lobby seems to be made with the image of a family atmosphere. There is a front desk on the upper floor and the guest rooms on the upper floor are often seen recently, but if you ask, this hotel has a room on the lower floor of the front. If you pay attention to it, the elevator is certainly a system that cannot be stopped on the floor without entering the key of the guest room. It's quite a novel structure. In addition, the entire hotel is non-smoking, which is rare in Japanese hotels. It's common in the United States, but it's rare in Japanese hotels.

On the first floor of this building, there is a cafe and a dining bar, which is somewhat stylish like a street corner of New York. I don't think I'll stay in Tokyo in the future, but I'd like to stop by cafes and bars during the walk.

By the way, there is also "Coatyard Marriott Ginza Tobu Hotel" in Ginza 6-chome, Chuo-ku.