FIRST AFTERNOON IN TOKYO

Tokyo Station To Nihonbashi:

This is the second half of a full day outing. Begin within Tokyo Station’s Yaesu East Side and follow overhead signs to the OTEMACHI NORTH ENTRANCE/EXIT. Go outside and angle right, passing the JR Highway Bus arrival area at left. Proceed around the corner of the big building ahead and to the traffic light at the intersection of Eitai-dori Avenue and Sotobori-dori Avenue.

Continue either way to the corner diagonally opposite, landscaped with trees and trimmed hedges. When you get there, head for the large tree growing inside a circular curb. Pass along the left side of it, then go down some steps to the sidewalk of a narrow street where you turn right past an elevated shrine and proceed ahead past a Lawson Store on the far corner of a cross street. Then it’s just a short way farther to the traffic lights at Chuo-dori.

Head left toward the expressway overpass that enshadows a distinctive bridge with elaborate artistic additions, spanning the historic site of the Nihonbashi. Before you reach the incline, descend the steps at left for a good view downstream of the bridge’s two supporting arches. The original structure was built of wood in 1603 with its plank surface arching 154 feet across one of the town’s many tributaries emptying into the Sumida River. It was underpinned by tall pillars rising from the water, and the posts of the railings were crowned by corn-shaped decorations. It was replaced in 1872, again all wood, then updated in 1900 to accommodate streetcars. In 1911 the present bridge was built in Renaissance style with twin arches of stone underneath and the top finished by adding ornate railings, lanterns and figures in bronze.

Nihonbashi means Japan Bridge, and for centuries it has been the setting for memorable events and a feature of historical novels, many kabuki plays and especially the subject of woodblock prints and other works of art.

In Edo times this bridge was regarded not only as the central point of town, but also the hub of all Honshu Island because just beyond the north end of the bridge stood The North Gate from which all distances from Edo were measured by markers placed every 2.5 miles along The Five Highways Of Japan, named Tokaido, Nakasendo, Nikko Kaido, Koshu Kaido, Oshu Kaido. The North Gate was closed each night, being the important First Check Point for travelers entering or leaving Edo. A series of check points controlled wayfarers.

Two of those main roads connected Edo and Kyoto (then called Saikyo), a city about three hundred miles away, almost due west, with less than one degree of difference in latitude. The preferred road of these two alternatives was the Tokaido Eastern Seaboard Highway also known as “the front road” that had fifty-three Check Points (or fifty-five counting those at each end), the final one at the Sanjo Bridge which crossed the Kamo River in Saikyo. This coastal route was easier than the other way. During fair weather the trip took two weeks on foot. However, runners named hikyaku (flying legs) covered the distance in three days and ten hours, running in pairs day and night between relay stations. The two took turns carrying the official mail dispatched by the shogun and his dimyo. The road was always crowded with people required to file in an orderly manner along the left side only, the other half used by those going in the opposite direction, a regulation that became customary throughout the nation.

The secondary route between Edo and Saikyo was Nakasendo or “the back road” through rugged terrain with deep valleys often sparsely populated. A greatly admired scenic part of it was known as the Kiso Kaido Mountain Highway. No conveyances with wheels were practicable on either road, but horses were ridden by the aristocracy who traveled with attendants and carriers, while important personages sat on palanquins upheld by several men, front and back. Many palanquins were merely lightweight platforms. Others had a roof and open sides, and the best were completely enclosed for privacy.

Incidentally, The South Gate of Edo and the Second Check Point was located at the settlement of Shinagawa where the first spike for a railway was driven ceremoniously in 1870 to start a line connecting Shinagawa with Yokohama Harbor to the southwest. That line was completed in 1872, then extended in the reverse direction, from Shinagawa toward the central part of Edo to establish a depot at Shimbashi for cargo storage. Next more rails were laid a short way farther to Marunouchi, ending the line at the newly named Central Station that developed into today’s Tokyo Station.

Return up the steps from the water channel to street level, then head left over the bridge on its upstream sidewalk. In olden days both embankments were lined with warehouses and stores and lumber yards with bamboo poles and cypress, also a fish market nearby. Goods were hauled by skiffs or barges or floated on rafts. The whole town’s drainage canal system was used in this way until waterways were largely overlaid by streets and express roads. The two parallel steel spans you see overhead were built for the 1964 Olympics.

When you come to the far end there’s an informative plaque in English among other commemorative items in a small garden at the northwest corner of the bridge. In 1972 the original Zero Milestone was moved here and marked with a memorial post. Walk a few paces to the traffic light where you cross toward a triangular building with a vertical sign MITSUKOSHI in red and white, an annex of the main Mitsukoshi Department Store which is a little farther beyond. Continue across an alley to an identical sign over the sidewalk where you enter the main store’s front door between a pair of bronze lions that are copies of statues at Trafalgar Square in London placed here in 1914.

Mitsukoshi is reputed to be Tokyo’s very first depato, having been in operation since 1673, although it opened under another name, Echigoya, primarily selling kimono. The present building designed in dignified Renaissance style was completed in 1935. Inside, go straight ahead past display counters at right and left, and you’ll come to The Central Hall with a high atrium over an enormous sculpture intricately encrusted with colorful on the second floor balcony is a pipe organ custom made by the Wurlitzer Company in the United States, imported in 1930 but not set up until 1935. The sixth floor features a theater with 514 seats where performances have been presented since 1927. Of course, you’ll want to browse, and don’t miss the action on the Basement Food Market.

Leave Mitsukoshi through its front door and turn left to the traffic light. Cross right and proceed along the side street lined with trees until you come to another traffic light at an elevated expressway that you pass under, then head left, walking four blocks to a modern building with steps going up through a landscaped border to the porch and entrance marked by a vertical sign, red and white, for the Ozu Washi Paper Store founded in 1653 as a wholesaler called Ozuya. Today, besides offering high quality papers and related items for sale, there’s also a museum and a gallery and spaces for cultural classes. Here you will see excellent examples of handcrafted papers. Many artistic painters favor a certain paper stock as essential for their best work. Paul Gauguin once produced a series of prints in France, which he did on yellow paper carefully selected because he understood that when working with paper, the material itself makes a statement.

Retrace your steps back alongside the elevated expressway and under it onto the side street bordered by trees leading to the Mitsukoshi Depato. Cross again over Nihonbashi Bridge on the same side of it as before to the traffic light, then proceed Straight ahead a short way on Chuo-dori to another light at Eitai-dori. Continue two more blocks to where the entire next block on the left side is occupied by the posh Takashimaya Depato with its trademark red awnings above all the windows. Cross the street and enter the central doors rather than those at the corners of the building.

Go down the graceful stairway to see the Basement Food Market first, then ride the escalators up through all the floors to the rooftop garden and pet center. Most department stores are corporations operating as chains with multiple locations in major cities. Takashimaya was founded in Kyoto during 1831 and expanded to Tokyo in 1897. Their “flagship store” here on The Ginza opened in 1933.

When you leave, head directly across the street to Maruzen, a huge bookstore with an amazing amount of merchandise on all its floors, plus a restaurant and lots more besides books. Since you’ve just compared two leading Japanese department stores, you might like to compare Maruzen with the Yaesu Book Center nearby on Sotobori-dori Avenue which fronts Tokyo Station. To get there, continue along Chuo-dori four short blocks to the Yaesu-dori intersection. Cross this wide boulevard and turn right for two blocks, then go left around the corner onto Sotobori-dori. It’s just four more very short blocks to the Yaesu Book Center with five floors occupying an extremely narrow block. This unique and popular establishment is rather cramped inside, but that adds to its bustling business atmosphere.

When you return outside, you’re at a crosswalk with a traffic light where you go to the opposite sidewalk, then turn right to the YAESU ENTRANCE/EXIT of Tokyo Station. Here is where this “first full day in Tokyo” ends, back at the starting point for an easy walking excursion costing nothing when you have a rail pass — except the price of refreshments or any impulse purchases along the way.