"Ginza, Yurakucho, & Shinjuku"

"Ginza 3-Chome Cross Street Sidewalk" (100126-1344)

Looking up at some unusual buildings in Ginza 3-chome while walking down a cross street. Being a clear winter day, the sky is much bluer than is typical in the summer.

銀座三丁目の変わった建物 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 1:44 p.m.)


"Old & New Buildings in Ginza" (100126-1406)

Looking around from the rooftop of an old building in Ginza, and up at a towering new building going up right next to the old one. There are not very many old buildings left in Ginza (or elsewhere in Tokyo for that matter). They are relentlessly destroyed as the years go by. (Throughout most of the video are various industrial noises from motors and pounding that emanate from the construction site.)

銀座一丁目の古い建物と隣の新しい建物 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 2:06 p.m.)


"Okuno Building - 6th Floor Stairwell" (100126-1425)

Standing in the stairwell of the sixth floor of the Okuno Building, looking around and listening to the sounds of people echoing through the building. The room opposite the top of the stairs was apparently a lounge room for the tenents of the building when it was strictly an apartment building. (Currently there are many galleries in the building, as well as office space, but no resident tenants. The last tenant died one year ago at 100 years of age. Apparently she had lived in the building for its entire history - over seven decades! I wish I could have talked to her about the building's history while she was still alive.)

銀座一丁目の奥野ビルの六階 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 2:25 p.m.)


"Okuno Building 3rd Floor" (100126-1524)

Looking around on the third floor of the Okuno Building, including one of the displays in the room that was occupied by the very last tenant of the building, who died last year. The group renting the space is preserving it as it was, and using it sometimes for eccentric exhibits.

銀座一丁目の奥野ビルの三階の見回り 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 3:24 p.m.)


"Old Ginza Building Roof" (100126-1544)

Having another look around on part of the old Ginza building roof that I hadn't yet been on. At the end of the video, you can see the shape of the new building being built up around it. That zig-zag shape exactly conforms to the space available next to the building I was on and the building next to it. On the other side of the new building (to the left), there's a corner building that is being built around as well, so one side of the new building is about four or five times longer than the other. This sort of thing often happens in Tokyo, where people shoehorn buildings into all available space.

銀座一丁目の古い建物の屋上 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 3:44 p.m.)


"Ginza Side Street - January 26th, 2010, 5:57 p.m."

Walking down a side street in Ginza on January 26th, 2010, at 5:57 p.m.

銀座の道 東京 (平成二十二年一月二十六日の午後六時頃)


"Ginza 3-Chome, Yurakucho-Bound" (100126-1800)

Walking down a street in Ginza 3-chome on the way to Yurakucho.

銀座三丁目、有楽町行き 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 6:00 p.m.)


"Crossing from Ginza into Yurakucho" (100126-1801)

Walking across the main road that divides Ginza 3-chome and Yurakucho 2-chome.

銀座三丁目から、有楽町二丁目へ 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 6:01 p.m.)


"Yurakucho Bic Camera Michael Jackson DVD Promotional Concert" (100126-1804)
Walking along the street next to the overhead tracks in Yurakucho after visiting Ginza, I was surprised to notice that there was a live concert in front of Bic Camera (in the former Sogo Department Store Building), so naturally I went up close for a look and then discovered why - they were promoting sales of a Michael Jackson DVD with the live band. Bic Camera employees were walking around in front of the store clapping their hands to the music - I guess the idea being that their "enthusiasm" would be infectious and generate more sales of the DVD?

有楽町駅前のマイケルジャクソンDVD販売の為のライブコンサート 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 6:04 p.m.)


"Yurakucho - On Towards YSB" (100126-1805)

Continuing on towards YSB, the sounds of the Bic Camera concert fade into the nighttime Yurakucho sounds of trains, traffic and walking & talking people.

有楽町駅から、有楽町YSBまで 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 6:05 p.m.)


"Yurakucho Station Bound - January 26th, 2010, 7:01 p.m."

As the light changes, I walk across the striped crosswalk towards Yurakucho Station in the purple Tokyo night.

夜の有楽町駅へ向かう 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 7:01 p.m.)


"Keihin-Tohoku & Yamanote Line Trains at Yurakucho Station" (100126-1903)

The Keihin-Tohoku Line train was delayed due to a woman getting her bags caught in one of the doors. I was hoping to get a picture of her standing on the platform, with her hand around shopping bag straps by the door, with the shopping bags still inside the train on the other side of the closed doors. (It must have been something expensive, because she never let go for a second.) They opened the doors, she got her bags safely out of the train, and then I got the camera rolling. Shortly thereafter, a Yamanote Line train came in on the other side of the platform, and I got on that.

有楽町駅の京浜東北線と山手線の電車 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 7:03 p.m.)


"Arriving at Tokyo Station at 7:05 p.m. on January 26th, 2010"

Arriving at Tokyo Station just as a Keihin-Tohoku Line train is departing from the other side of the platform (yes - the same one that had just left Yurakucho - they basically race each other up to Ueno). The train stops, the doors open, and there's a bit of a rush for the stairs. Hurrying down the stairs, I then head for the Chuo Line.

Why the rush for the stairs? It's not for the tiny bit of extra time saved in getting there by walking fast, but rather to get there when there is still free access and you can walk down at a normal speed. If you wait too long to get there, then you generally have to walk at a snail's pace as everyone has to slow down to the speed of the very slowest bipeds in the crowd, which is generally quite slow.

山手線の電車が、東京駅に到着 階段アクセス 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 7:05 p.m.)


"Shinjuku South Exit Crowds - 7:25 p.m. on January 26th, 2010"

Beginning by a row of unused green public telephones within the upper level of Shinjuku Station, I head over to the south-east exit, exit the station through the ticket barrier there, and walk over to the top of the stairs leading down to the plaza. From there, I turn around, walk past a row of ticket (and train IC card charge) machines and into a short mall (Lumine-2) that takes me over to the busy south exit. The video ends as I navigate through a sea of people. (Well - not a sea really, maybe a lake then? "A lake of people." Can I say that?)

新宿駅内の散歩から、南口の人々の中に歩いて行く 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 7:25 p.m.)


"Shinjuku Omoide-Yokocho - 9:41 p.m., January 26th, 2010"

Walking through the retro drinking area Omoide-Yokocho at 9:41 p.m. - probably around the busiest time for the retro-drinking street. Every time I walk through there, there seem to be still more tourists - it must be in guide books....

Towards the beginning of the clip, there's a woman dragging a large suitcase through. I often see tourists walking around Tokyo dragging huge suitcases... I suppose they are either too early for check-in or stuck between check-out and heading to the airport for another city? No big deal either way, but the sound of the suitcases on rough ground can be quite irritating if you're stuck walking beside them for a while.

新宿思い出横丁、九時四十一分、平成二十二年一月二十六日 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 9:41 p.m.)


"Seibu-Shinjuku Station Platform Walking" (100126-2148)

Walking down a platform in Seibu-Shinjuku Station beside a stopped Red Arrow reserved-seat express train in order to get in line for a regular express train (which is about to arrive on the other side of the same platform).

西武新宿駅のプラットホーム散歩 東京 (Recorded on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at 9:48 p.m.)

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon