Waiting one morning on the sidewalk outside an electronics store, I learned that most stores
in Tokyo don’t open until 11AM. I watched workers move all their impulse racks and displays out
of the aisles and onto the sidewalk, dust and sweep everything very thoroughly, set up their public
address system...and then stand, with me, silently watching the countdown on the giant G-Shock
across the street. Click. 11AM arrived, and everyone welcomed me into the store.
Many stores aren’t easy to browse, so their PA systems tell the crowds about
their store’s intergrity, its superior products and the special sales that can’t be
missed. Imagine a store that’s 10 feet wide and 100 feet deep. And eleven
storeys tall. Negotiable only by a four-person-max elevator
or steep aluminum stairs way in back. Or eleven stores in that
same space, with a vertical sign outside nearly as tall as the
building, identifying each store. The density is amazing.
Imagine me wandering the streets, trying to find a specific
store by comparing the signs with my poorly scribbled kanji.
Garages can be two cars wide and a dozen storeys tall,
or they can have a turntable because there isn’t room
enough to turn a car into the elevator. Beside the Fukudaya
stood an outdoor garage two cars deep, three storeys tall,
that operated like a ferris wheel.
I absorbed pedestrian etiquette quickly. In Japan, if it moves,
it moves to the left. Crossing a street, up and down stairs,
sauntering along a platform or a lane. Everywhere.
Cars and people alike obey traffic signals, day and night.
People are employed to wear a uniform, bow and advise
everyone about the safety of passing a construction site.
Crowded sidewalks in Shibuya are negotiated by self-
absorbed pedestrians and swift, silent bicyclists who flash
like ninjas through the crowds. Narrow and hilly so often,
when the sidewalks are wet, it’s wise to walk slowly and
watch your feet. In front of businesses and homes, they’re immaculate.
I watched the same woman many times come out to tend her section
of the sidewalk with a bucket of water and a mop. I noticed a man wash
and wipe the illuminated plastic sign above his shop, twice in one week.
Trash is bagged or boxed,and may go into the gutter or stand against a wall,
but it’s never there the next day. Yet, the crows inspect everything.