27 October 2024
New tunnel under the tracks
Shimbashi to Yurakucho in the rain
Wet streets, neon lights, darkness at 5pm. All of these add up to photos of lights under bridges.
One of the great things about Japan is that it gets dark very early. This helps me disguise the fact that I like to go to bed at about 9pm. In Korea it does not really get dark until then so I miss out on a lot of the neonicity of Seoul (inventing words is my main hobby).
Tonight I left with intentions of going further north than I did, but I got hungry early, and then it was raining, so I scurried back. On the way I found a new series of tunnels under the train tracks between Shimbashi and Yurakucho. Some of these were a bit too upmarket for a pleb like me, so I found $9 ramen instead. I hear a lot about inflation in Japan, but the ramen places all still gave change for a 1000 yen note, and with the exchange rate like it is now, that is dam cheap.
Who won the election? Actually I checked and voting does not officially close until 8pm, but many prefectures are closing at 7pm to save money because they are broke. Maybe there will be a general strike across all of Japan that lasts a month and cancels all trains and government run otter cafes?
Tomorrow is supposed to be raining, so no hiking, and indoor things are mostly shut on Mondays, so there could be a lot of coffee drunk.
I started my journey following the train tracks and found a lot of places to take photos of lights reflecting off the underside of bridges. Here is the first one.
This is a very long section of new looking under the tracks restaurants and boutique shops. The restaurants looked too fancy for me, date nights were going on with guys handing over flowers and puppies. There is a similar section of tunnels beneath the tracks between Ueno and Akihabara, so I guess they are doing similar things everywhere.
Under bridge neon shot number 2.
Occasionally I came out from the under the tracks tunnels and followed the street alongside the tracks, which was also photogenic.
But my hunger soon got the best of me, so it was time for cheap ramen. The ramen man yelled at me in Japanese a lot, I just glared at him. That is not racist, if he yelled at me in English I would just glare at him too.
The local gambling den has halloween decorations and cartoon motifs to entice the kids in. Wait until they learn about same day multis! Japan is great, but it is even better with a same day multi!
My camera is still out of stock everywhere in Japan. For 5 years it has been out of stock. Also electronics are more expensive in Japan than in Australia, even with the favourable exchange rate at the moment.
It was now time to head out into the rain. At first it was just a bit moist and reflective.
I found myself Ginza adjacent, standing in the middle of the road above a freeway tunnel. People looking through clear umbrellas were concerned for my safety.
I decided to leave the main drag at Ginza for another night, this is a crossing one street over.
And then it started raining a lot more, so I walked back to Shimbashi and got wet. I have taken a photo in this spot before, on my last trip. Now I am staying in a hotel about 100 metres from here.