The masked people waited patiently for the light to turn green

People waiting at a traffic light on Chuo-dori in Ginza — Pedestrian crossing in Ginza

Ginza is Japan's most famous shopping district in Tokyo. There are department stores here, and foreign high brands such as Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Yves Saint-Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. have their stores here. I have no use for any of them, though.

Originating in the Edo period (1603-1868), when the Ginza Yakusho, which was in charge of minting silver coins and buying and selling silver bullion, was located here, many artisans lived in Ginza, and the area around Owari-cho (today's Ginza 5-chome and 6-chome) was said to have been bustling from that time. It is also said that the residences of Noh actors were also located in Ginza, and the people involved with them lived in the surrounding area. The masters of the Konparu, one of the schools of Noh, later became Konparu geisha, which led to the present-day Shimbashi geisha.

At the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the area was once in a state of disrepair, but after the Great Fire of 1872, the Meiji government rebuilt the area into a Western-style brick town, which was the most advanced at the time. Asakusa and Manseibashi also come to mind when I think of the downtown area of the Meiji era. Asakusa is still lined with stores, but it does not have an image of luxury or cutting edge, and Manseibashi has lost its station and has almost no vestiges of what it used to be. When you think about it like that, Ginza is tough to beat. Ginza, which has been bustling with activity since the Edo period, has not been deterred by the changing times and continues to be the face of Tokyo today.

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