Stores, Restaurants and Other Details

[gmat]

As requested, I've shot shops and other details.

I shot this yakitori restaurant with beer crates used to form outdoor tables. I was walking from my Friday student's home near Uguisudani to Akihabara station. I had left my bicycle parked near Merguro station after my earlier class and come up by train, with a stop at Akihabara to shoot details of the station again. 

 

If anyone wants, I can reshoot the red store front to make it flat.

 

 

 

The yellow containers are filled with water and used as weights to anchor stands that might be blown down bt the wind.

 

 

 

As most probably know, when they hang the short curtain at the entrance, it means that they are open for business.

 

 

 

Best wishes.

Gtant

[cteno4]

Grant,

 

wonderful! great little scene there. love how that tiny bit of real estate under the sign si used by the restaurant for some out door seating!

 

i have been looking for small beads that will work as lanterns for scenes like this, i have found a few, but not perfect. would be fantastic to put one of the tiny smd leds inside to light them up for the larger ones!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[scott]

Nice details, Grant--I'm really enjoying these pictures.

 

In the 4th picture, what's being sold for 600 or 650 yen?

[gmat]

Motsu is kind of chicken innards. In the supermarket, that is the package with chicken parts including a 1-1/12 inch round yellow ball that I thought might be an egg, but when I tried to cook it, to my dismay, really wasn't

 

Here are two links that discuss it.

http://www.umamimart.com/2009/06/front-yard-yakitori-shack-tokyo/

 

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/357582

 

Someone who can read kanji might say what it is, sorry.

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Took this last Sunday neaar Ebaramachi station on the Oimachi line.

 

 

Photo of the whole building.

 

The crossing in front of the building.

 

It's not usually like this, they normally place their shoes in the genkan, or foyer.

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Perhaps it's well known,

But can anyone guess why these might be here?

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

It's to scare away cats from defecating in the area.  Have to be careful about placement though- in strong sunlight the magnifying effect of the water could start a fire if any dry material is adjacent.

[Guest ___]

It's to scare away cats from defecating in the area.  Have to be careful about placement though- in strong sunlight the magnifying effect of the water could start a fire if any dry material is adjacent.

 

They only work on cats though, drunk salary men pay them no heed.

[KenS]

It's to scare away cats from defecating in the area.

 

I'd never heard of this.  How does it work? Is it the reflections, or that cats don't like to defecate near a water supply, or is there something other than water in them that the cats smell?

[gmat]

I don't think that it really works, save perhaps occupying space or reducing the area so that cats would seek somewhere else to do their business. Some people say that the reflections from the PET bottles would bother the cats. I used to have a rented classroom and had problems with cats leaving presents in the narrow space between a small wall and the front of my office. My wife suggested putting PET bottles in that area, but I noticed that if you left a large enough gap between bottles, the cats would use that area. By spacing the bottles so that the gaps was less that the length of a cat, usually, they would not use the area. The real solution was when the house next door was torn down and a new apartment building was erected. The cats apparently didn't like the more open area or the building contractor somehow convinced the owner of the cats to keep them locked up.

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Togoshi-ginza on the Ikegami line

The station entrance. Going away from Gotanda station

 

Going towards Gotanda station.

 

The shopping street. Looking towards the station. Going East..

 

Looking away from the station. Going West.

 

Some shops.

Curry restaurant. The motor scooter is for home deliveries.

 

Many shops are at the bottom floor of a building.

Matsuya. Serves Katsudon, Oyakodon, pork cutlet or chicken toppings on a bowl of rice.

 

 

 

Chinese restaurant.

 

 

Some small shops have their living quarters on the upper floors.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

The preceding and subsequent photos were taken about 8:00 on a Sunday morning. Many shops were still closed.

 

Crossing to the west side of the tracks. Looking east, back towards the station.

 

Looking west.

 

An izakaya, or a drinking place that serves snacks to go with the drinks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[rankodd]

Nuts. I completely missed this topic first time around. The shop detail shots are definitely appreciated - they're some of the most useful things I can think of for detailed scene modelling, and some of the hardest kinds of shots to find!

[gmat]

More. Sorry, been busy.

Dry Cleaning.

 

 

Ozeki is a chain supermarket in Tokyo. The one near my apartment doesn't look like this, though.

 

 

 

 

 

another dry cleaning shop.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Further down the street.

Not the usual way to enter a hair salon.

 

These were up and down the street.

 

If the bottles of water didn't work, helpful signs were placed along paths and in this case, on a bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near Togoshi-ginza station.

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

With the World Cup fever sweeping Japan, everyone was getting into the act. Here are some banners and posters provided by Kirin. Taken near Ekoda station, Seibu-Ikebukuro line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

 

 

 

 

Another bar next door.

 

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[rankodd]

 

FIFA World Cup 2010

23:00 kickoff

Paraguay Vs "Samurai" Japan

 

They have a pretty high opinion of their team :)

[KenS]

Great pictures, as always.  I particularly liked the view down the alley (I can't really call something that narrow a street), since it shows how "busy" (in terms of detail) a short stretch of shops can be.

[rankodd]

If anyone wants, I can reshoot the red store front to make it flat.[\quote]

 

If you get a chance, I'd love a shot across the front of the store. It's at a bit too much of an angle to straighten out easily...

 

Thanks again for your fantastic work! I'm going to base part of my layout on this shopping street...

[ToniBabelony]

Great that you've found a sports bar where they sell some good beers! Need to keep that in mind

 

Nice pictures as well! Really helps on the detailing of my module for the project party.