a night in ginza

tokyo international forum, designed by rafael viñoly, a ten years old bubble economy fantasy. again a clear concept at work: a giant glassy wedge of public nothingness, with vertiginous overpasses (gloriously empty), combined with a high density complex of meeting rooms and auditoriums and related facilities (hyperfull). all of this crammed into one of tokyo’s busiest shopping districts, but very fluently connected to all the different levels of the surrounding city. from around, the roof structure looks like a giant whale skeleton..



just a couple of steps from viñoly’s whale, robata (“near the fireplace”) is known as one of tokyo’s most atmospheric restaurants. indeed, the wood of the interior and the staff all seem to be aromatized by the steaming dishes. was all of japan like this a hundred years ago? is this real?



robata is organized as an open kitchen, big wooden bowls full of delicacies displayed around it. but don’t get me started on food guys. tokyo food is worth a serparate blog, with two postings a day.



yurakucho (“fun town”) has tons of small yakitori restaurants under the train tracks. feels a lot like bangkok. close but opposite to ginza, high end long established shopping district, rather dead at night according to tokyo’s standards.



around midnight, a ginza pachinko (slot machine paradise) closes for the day. customers in white shirts queuing all around the coffee bar to cash their fortune.