Tokyo- continued

We spent the rest of the day wandering round Asakusa, and discovering a world of drum shops, knife shops, expensive fruit shops, shrine shops, and rickshaw shoe shops.  I can't understand why the Japanese aren't enormous.  There are so many food shops selling sweet cakes. We avoided those but succumbed to iced green teas.  No one eats or smokes in the street, but they do in the restaurants, which is a bit of a shock to us non-smokers. We were pleased to see traces  of the past linger - a man in traditional attire including the raised wooden sandals, a woman in a kimono,  workmen wearing towel scarves on their heads.  We were relieved to see real bicycles being ridden by young and old.  No fancy gears, no lycra and no super expensive bikes or helmets.  Just plain old pedal power and ordinary riders.

At night we explored the back streets and discovered alleys broken by traditional houses, people getting merry after work, lanterns everywhere, and more food shops.  It is wonderful how safe we feel wandering around even quiet areas.  Turns out there are a lot of homeless street people in the city, but they are not intrusive or abusive.  They have a quiet dignity and are very neat and tidy as they settle down in their little cardboard shelter for the night.  Must be awfully cold in winter.  As usual, I wonder about their histories, and how a little child, like the ones I smile at in the street, ends up in this predicament.  Would I survive?

We ended up selecting a street stall and pointing to pictures of what we thought we wanted.  Turned out we ordered grilled chicken, a stew of beef, and a soup of vegetables and some undefinable other things ( plant or animal, we have no idea).  The owner was amused at our enthusiasm and gave us some free sardines, fried and marinated in a pickle like escabieche fish  It was all delicious.

Here are some photos of our first day:

Ginza from the Sakurada-bori Moat.  Tranquility in the middle of a bustling city.  The juxtaposition of old and new.

A pine artistically adorning the wall above the moat.

A family enjoying Hibiya-koen.

A view of the Imperial Palace grounds.

Statue of a fish.

Woodland in the city!

Joggers meet under a statue.

Don't ask what it is - just enjoy.

And when in doubt, have a beer - or two!

Going to bed in my hotel nightgown.

First impressions?  Amazingly calm and peaceful considering there are 20 million people here.  A wonderful city for a holiday.