- 04
- Jul
I’m sure you’ve seen many touristy pics of Tokyo and I’ve been showing you the non touristy pics of daily life Tokyo in the Week in Tokyo series but what about the run down areas?
I don’t know of any single area full of run down houses/buildings but you can see them dotted throughout Tokyo.
When I say “run down” I mean in the sense of being battered, old decrepit and not ridden with crime.
Wanted to show these pics because I didn’t want to give the impression that Tokyo was all spick n span. Most Japanese tend to have an image of the London as “Big Ben”, “Shiny Red London Bus”, “Buckingham Palace”, “Notting Hill and tell me how London looks like such a beautiful place. London is a lovely place but it also has places like Hackney - full of dog poo in the roads, houses with smashed windows filled with squatters, never ending roadworks and people throwing stones, eggs and chicken into crowds - been on the receiving end of the eggs and chicken and seen the stone throwing.
And why are there always shreds of newspaper lying around the floor in train carriages?
It was like that when I left but wasn’t that bad when I visited last time though.
The excellent Notting Hill with Hugh Grant below. Hmmm. I really feel like a trip back to the UK these days - its been a few years since I been home.
In the A Week in London article, 37% of you said that you lived in a country other than the place of your birth. How often do you go and visit the country of your birth? Do you have folks back there?
How about folks who have parents who were born in another country - do you visit there often?
My parents used to bring me back to Malaysia when I was young - only to be brought back to the UK and stuck in a foster home orz.
Many folks who live in decrepit houses like these usually own the land that the house stands on. You will often see leaflets from real estate agents sticking out of their postboxes - the estate agents want their land. The price of land in Tokyo is slowly on the rise and keeping hold of land for a bit longer could mean more money to buy figures when its sold.
Do you or your family own land in your region? Is the cost of land on the rise or fall?
The most expensive piece of land in Japan is at 4-5-6 Chuo Ginza where 1 square meter costs 39,000,000 yen (source)
Are there battered decrepit houses/buildings in your neck of the woods?
If you got some photos of rundown areas in your region, feel free to show us using the uploader.
By Danny Choo on 2008/06/25 12:31
From Live in Japan Source
