This year's Golden Week, which is not awakened by the influence of Great East Japan Earthquake, does not seem to be the bustling streets of Tokyo.
On the last day of Golden Week, May 8th (Sunday), I enjoyed "Silver Bra" alone to see how Ginza Chuo-dori was like.
On a regular Sunday, in front of the famous brand shop facing Chuo-dori, tourists from Asia lined up before opening, and it is a quiet air like a lie that various languages were flying around Was flowing.
I started walking along Chuo-dori from the Shimbashi side, but the time was before H&M around 10:30 am. Even that popular H&M doesn't have any customers before opening at 11:00. A woman standing on the wall of a stylish H&M building looks down on the sparse sidewalk.
I knew for the first time, a digital clock with a simple design made of metallic materials is placed on the sidewalk in front of H&M. Isn't such a stylish watch only here on Ginza Chuo-dori?
We will walk along the sidewalk on the H&M side, which is blocked by the building and cannot reach the sunlight, to the intersection of 4-chome. Still, people walking on the sidewalk are really sparse, and you can see the sight just looking at Ginza, one of Japan's leading shopping zones.
The Mitsukoshi front entrance at the intersection of 4-chome, which is always crowded with people waiting, has a quiet atmosphere, and it is surprising that the number of cars running on Chuo-dori and Harumi-dori St. is extremely small even if it is Sunday .
After passing the 4-chome intersection, it is the area where the most famous overseas brands are concentrated in Chuo-dori. It is a world-famous brand street that is comparable to Champs-Elysees in Paris and Sashizume Regent Street or Oxford Street in London. The big difference is that most of the famous brand shops in Kanochi have shops in old-fashioned stone-built buildings.
Over the past few years, including Ginza Chuo-dori, a brand-new modern building of famous overseas brand shops has been built in the area of Harumi-dori St., from one after another, and it is just like an exposition of contemporary architecture. Each brand incorporates its own identity and image into its architectural design, and demonstrates its presence in the same way as each brand logo.
Even so, the area around Ginza 2-chome to 3-chome is a brand shop heaven, and it has become a favorite of many foreigners as well as Japanese. I'm not very interested in the brand, but I suddenly stopped and looked at the design of the store architecture that expresses the presence of the overseas brand shop that decorates Ginza Chuo-dori, and the eccentricness of the store facade.
Apple Shop is a computer brand that feels the world's typical architectural design. The symbol mark "Apple (apple)" is drawn on the metallic front facade. Perhaps because "i-Pad2" was just sold, the inside of the store was crowded with many apple enthusiasts. As a personal matter, I purchased "i-Pod 160GB" at the Apple shop, which I wanted to contribute a little to the consumption after the earthquake.
On the other side of the apple shop, the chalk department store "Matsuya" with front glass lays as if overwhelming the viewer, and on the first floor, the world brand "Louis Vuitton" stands dignifiedly.
Immediately after passing the apple shop, there is a brand "Channel" that everyone admires, a cartier across the alley, a cartier on the other side of the cartier across Chuo-dori, and a brand shop that everyone knows, such as Bulgaria and jewel Tiffany.
However, even after the opening hours of each brand store, there are sparse customers inside the store, and the drastic decrease in the number of Chinese tourists who swept Japan until before the earthquake seems to have caused great damage to these brand shops.
Please take a look. It is a state of Ginza Chuo-dori after 11:00 am on May 8th (Sun). I'm so lonely.
The spirit of Ginza is the spirit of Japan. It is cheerful Japanese and foreign customers who color the gorgeous Ginza. I sincerely hope that the old bustle will come back soon.
