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Ehbygum’s Tokyo
Shitamachi,
Arakawa, Machiya.
Ehbygum
has lived in Machiya, part of Arakawa-ku (Arakawa borough) here in Tokyo for
longer than he cares to remember. It’s in the Shitamachi
district, the traditional East End of Tokyo, a friendly and down to earth
place, where people are a little more relaxed than in the more up-market west
of the city. Shitamachi is the sort
of place where neighbours know each other, and grandfathers sit out on the
street in their vests on hot winter evenings.
Village in the city.
Ehbygum lives on the top
of a fourteen storey high-rise. From
his balconies he sees the almost unrelieved concrete that is Tokyo,
stretching to the horizons. But a
lift ride down to street level reveals a completely different world. Tall and ugly concrete buildings cluster
around the stations and main roads, but just metres away these give way to a
warren of narrow streets and paths where close-packed houses and shops jostle
closely together in a happy confusion. It’s an area of real communities, neighbourhoods where people know each other and kids can walk home from school safely.
Nights Out
Ehbygum
likes to go out to eat and drink, and Machiya is a great place to do
that. There are all sorts of places,
from quite posh European restaurants to noodle shops, and classy bars to
traditional Izakaya drinking and eating shops. And
it’s Izakaya Shinobu which is Ehbygum’s favourite. The “MasterE Takahashi-san is an
excellent cook and was born to be a landlord, with a cheery personality and
innate ability to make anyone who may drop in feel really welcome and
comfortable. Ehbygum
especially recommends hir-e-zaki, a special drink made from warm sake
and toasted fugu fish fins, only available in the winter months. Another
Ehbygum favourite is Hors
d’oeuvre House, a remarkably good
bar restaurant, incongruously stuck
down a Shitamachi side street. The
genial and owner/chef, Tetsuro, spent a year of his youth in the kitchens of
the Amsterdam Hilton, so his menu offers both Japanese and Western
tastes. And his drop-dead beautiful
wife shakes cocktails to die for.
Ehbygum recommends the balalaika, but not if you have serious business
the next day.
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On other pages. Ehbygum’s Home Page.
Ehbygum’s Yorkshire Page. Ehbygum’s Motor
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