Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
started life here, from cinema to cabaret and striptease. Today a handful of the old
venues survive, most famously
Rock-za
, with its daily strip show, and there are loads
of cinemas, pachinko parlours (see box, p.122), gambling halls and drinking dives. It's
not all lowbrow, though: several small theatres in the area, such as Asakusa Engei Hall,
still stage
rakugo
, a centuries-old form of comic monologue in which familiar jokes and
stories are mixed with modern satire.
Behind the Rox Department Store, the rather grandly named Rokku Broadway leads
past betting shops and strip joints north into
Hisago-dōri
, a covered shopping street
with a few interesting traditional stores.
Edo Shitamachi Traditional Crafts Museum
ߐށԼொ౷ܳؗ
, Edo Shitamachi Dentō-kōgei-kan • 2F 2-22-13 Asakusa, Taitō-ku • Daily 10am-8pm • Free •
T
03 3842 1990 •
Asakusa station
At the top end of Hisago-dōri is
Edo Shitamachi Traditional Crafts Museum
, whose
modest collection of traditional implements won't detain you for more than ten
minutes, but still it's worth popping by. At weekends a variety of artisans can be seen at
work, and there are occasional video presentations about crafts production. There's also
a selection of crafts on sale in the ground-floor lobby.
Miyamoto Unosuke Nishi-Asakusa Store and Drum Museum
ٶຊӎ೭ॿઙళ
, 2-1-1 Nishi-Asakusa • Wed-Sun 10am-5pm; shop daily 9am-6pm • ¥300 •
T
03 3842 5622,
W
miyamoto
-unosuke.co.jp • Asakusa station
Easily identifiable from the elaborate
mikoshi
(portable shrines) in the window, the
Miyamoto Unosuke Nishi-Asakusa Store
(
ٶຊӎ೭ॿઙళ
) is an Aladdin's cave of
traditional Japanese percussion instruments and festival paraphernalia: masks,
shortened kimono-style
happi
coats, flutes, cymbals and, of course, all kinds of
mikoshi
,
the largest with a price tag over ¥3 million. Since 1861, however, the family passion has
been drums, resulting in an impressive collection from around the world which now
fills the fourth-floor
Drum Museum
. There's every type of percussion material and, best
of all, you're allowed to have a go on some. A red dot on the name card indicates those
not to be touched; blue dots mean you can tap lightly, just with your hands; and the
rest have the appropriate drumsticks ready and waiting.
Kitchenware Town
͔ͬͺڮಓ۩֗
, Kappabashi Dōgu gai •
W
kappabashi.or.jp • Many shops along here close on Sunday
Just west of Rokku is the main road of Kappabashi-dōgu-gai. Locally known as
Kappabashi
, or “Kitchenware Town”, this is the best-known of several wholesale markets
in northeast Tokyo where you can kit out a whole restaurant. You don't have to be a bulk
buyer, however, and this is a great place to pick up unusual souvenirs, such as the plastic
food displayed outside restaurants to tempt the customer. This practice, originally using
wax, dates from the nineteenth century but came into its own about forty years ago
when foreign foods were being introduced to a puzzled Japanese market.
Tokyo Skytree
1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida-ku •
T
03 6658 8012,
W
tokyo-skytree.jp • Oshiage or Tokyo Skytree stations
he
Tokyo Skytree
is the city's newest star attraction, and the world's tallest tower at
634m in height - the only structure to beat it, at the time of writing, was Dubai's
mighty Burj Khalifa. The main rationale behind the project was to replace the
comparatively puny Tokyo Tower (see p.96) as the city's digital broadcasting beacon,
although the sightseeing potential of the structure is being fully exploited, with the
Skytree offering the city's highest public observatory - a dizzying 450m above the
ground - as well as an aquarium and planetarium at its base, plus tourist shops,
restaurants and landscaped public spaces.
