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00:20A Japanese shopping street lined with all kinds of stores.
00:26It's a key part of everyday life in Japan.
00:33Shopping streets are more than just places to buy things.
00:37They have always been important social spaces.
00:42But in recent years, shopping streets have suffered from decline.
00:48Efforts to revitalize them have given birth to new initiatives.
00:56This time on Japanology Plus, we'll explore the charms and challenges of Japan's shopping streets.
01:16Hello, welcome to Japanology Plus. I'm Peter Barakan.
01:19I'm in a neighborhood called Sunamachi, which is on the eastern end of the old part of Tokyo.
01:25And this street, where about 180 local merchants ply their trade, is altogether 670 meters long, making it one of
01:34the longer shopping streets in Tokyo.
01:37The word shopping street is always used to translate the Japanese term shōtengai, which applies to these kinds of streets.
01:46I don't remember hearing the word shopping street used like that in English, but to me it implies a mixture
01:51of what we might call a high street with a street market.
01:55These kinds of streets were an essential part of daily life in just about every local community in Japan until
02:01the advent of supermarkets and malls.
02:04I'm sure you can tell which direction this is going, but let's start off today with a look at a
02:09few typical shopping streets.
02:21A trip to a shopping street leads to all kinds of conversations.
02:33A trip to a shopping street leads to all kinds of conversations.
02:49Long a shopping street leads to all kinds of practical knowledge.
02:55You can seek their advice about the items they are selling and have a good chat at the same time.
03:05Our guest this time is Lady Yamanaka, a management consultant.
03:10He knows a great deal about what's involved in operating a business in a shopping street.
03:18I'm actually quite surprised that there's so many people around,
03:22considering it's a weekday in the middle of the day.
03:25This shopping street is among the busiest in Japan.
03:29There used to be a lot of small workshops in this part of the city.
03:34The people they employed and residents of nearby public housing relied on this shopping street.
03:40They would get all their supplies here.
03:45That place sells great stuff.
03:48They make the meals that they sell here.
03:51Hello.
03:52Whoa, these all look good.
03:54What do you recommend then?
03:57Oh, yeah, that looks good, doesn't it?
04:05Okay, I'm going to pee out.
04:07I'm going to have a shrimp cutlet and a couple of shumai, maybe.
04:12That's lovely.
04:13Thank you very much.
04:15And just a damage on that.
04:18Okay, thank you.
04:23They taste great.
04:26That's good.
04:28In this part of town, the old part of Tokyo, the people just seem to be always so friendly.
04:33I mean, I'm here for the first time and they treat you like you're a regular customer almost.
04:38Yes, that's true.
04:40That's the appeal of a shopping street.
04:43Elderly customers especially will ask the shopkeeper to recommend what's good.
04:47They enjoy having a chat about things like that.
04:53And there are a lot of take-out places where they make their food from scratch.
04:58They're real pros at making some special item.
05:01Gyoza or shumai or cutlets or whatever.
05:08Customers feel more at ease when they know exactly who's making their food.
05:14That's another point.
05:18And for a regular customer, the shop may offer something on the house from time to time.
05:26That's all part of the charm.
05:29Here's a shop along the Tsulamachi shopping street that sells Odette.
05:36With Odette, you choose from a variety of ready-to-eat foods stewed in a soy-based broth.
05:42Daikon, kombu kelp, tofu, egg, and various kinds of fish paste patties.
05:50This place is very popular.
05:52There's always a crowd of customers.
05:56What draws them here is the chance to choose from 30 different items, all made in-house.
06:06A family of five runs this shop.
06:09It's common for families to operate these shopping street businesses.
06:14Let's follow this one through a typical workday.
06:20Things get going early in the morning at 6 a.m.
06:26The shop owner is Yukitoshi Nakajima.
06:30His first task each day is to prepare the stewing broth.
06:34Boiling seaweed and skipjack tuna shavings, he makes five large stockpots of broth.
06:41The broth determines the taste of the oden, so Nakajima takes great care with its preparation.
06:49Meanwhile, another daily routine takes place at Tsukiji, one of the world's largest seafood wholesale markets.
06:57The fish here are from all over Japan.
07:01Dota Saki comes to Tsukiji to buy ingredients for the days of the day.
07:20Five years ago, Tsukiji's father entrusted her with purchasing supplies.
07:28Today, she buys two kinds of shark.
07:35At 7 a.m., Yukitoshi Nakajima begins making the fish paste patties.
07:42The main ingredient is the shark Saki bought earlier that morning in Tsukiji.
07:47One type has soft flesh, the other is firm.
07:50Mincing and mixing them yields a fish paste with just the right texture.
07:58But the shark flesh varies from day to day.
08:01To keep a consistent texture, he has to adjust the ratio each time.
08:06A skill that takes 10 years to master.
08:12The shark flesh turns white with kneading.
08:15Then it's placed in a machine that shapes it into square patties.
08:22Yuki Toshi's wife, Keiko, boils the patties, closely monitoring the heat.
08:27The shop makes only 100 patties every day.
08:31They charge 40 yen apiece for this.
08:34That's an extremely low price, even by the standards of Japan's traditional shopping streets.
08:43As soon as she gets back from the market, Saki starts making fish balls.
08:49She uses her thumb and forefinger to shape the fish paste.
08:53She says it took her five years to make them quickly and evenly.
08:56She makes 1,000 every day.
09:02I don't have a lot of money, but I don't have a lot of money, but I don't have a
09:08lot of money.
09:10The fish balls are fried and sold for 10 yen each.
09:15Can the shop really make a sufficient profit at that price?
09:19For now, we are getting by.
09:21We're doing okay.
09:22We try not to raise prices on what's absolutely necessary.
09:27We want anyone to be able to afford our food.
09:31The family divides up the labor to make sure the shop is ready to open each day
09:36with all the varieties of our den ready to serve.
09:42The moment they open at 10.30, there's a rush of customers.
09:48The way they make all the food items is not the only amazing skill.
09:52The owner's mother is a wizard at totaling the price in her head.
10:02She knows the price of all 30 items and can work out the cost of an order
10:07while carrying on a conversation.
10:37The owner's mother's mother is a wizard.
10:45Calculated exactly.
10:54On a Japanese shopping street, family businesses show off professional skills that may take
11:00years to work.
11:04Yoshihiro Somiya runs a prepared foods take-out shop.
11:08His side dishes and pickled foods are very popular.
11:12His family has been running the shop for 50 years.
11:15The family home and the shop are a single building, a typical shopping street set-up.
11:24How many generations has the shop been going?
11:27Two generations.
11:28Oh.
11:29And do you live on the premises, either upstairs or in the back or something?
11:33We live upstairs.
11:34The shop's at street level.
11:36No.
11:36If it's not an imposition, could we have a little peek?
11:41It's cramped and cluttered.
11:43You don't mind?
11:44I don't mind if you don't mind.
11:47Come right in then.
11:56This is our workspace and pickling room.
12:02Hello.
12:03Hello.
12:06This is where we make the pickled foods.
12:09Over here, the cooked foods.
12:12Oh, okay.
12:13You've got a whole kitchen thing going on here, yeah.
12:16It's a mess, I'm afraid.
12:18It's a mess, I'm afraid.
12:19It actually looks very clean.
12:21Remarkably clean.
12:23They look cute.
12:24Very nice.
12:26The kitchen in one of these shops may be old and cramped, but it will nearly always be
12:32sparkling clean.
12:36Upstairs is the family home.
12:39Somir lives here with his wife and his father.
12:50What are the advantages and disadvantages of living so close to your workplace?
12:57An office worker would spend time commuting.
13:00That's one of the good things for me.
13:03I don't have to worry about commuting.
13:05Work is just steps away.
13:11But there is a downside.
13:13Sometimes I don't feel like working, but work is still right there.
13:18I can't avoid it.
13:21What are your opening hours, sir?
13:23We're open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
13:27So if somebody from the neighborhood comes by at half past eight and said, I've run out
13:32of something, or I just need something for dinner, what do you do?
13:36We close at 7 p.m., but we'll still be downstairs tidying up.
13:42Customers will often poke their heads in around then.
13:45And we might still have something to sell them.
13:48If we do have something they want, we'll sell it.
13:51Things like that can be a plus or a minus.
13:57Here's a tea merchant.
13:59Would you like a cup?
14:00Yes, please.
14:01Coming right up.
14:05Why do you alternate the pouring?
14:07To keep the strength of the tea equal, so both cups will taste just the same.
14:15This is a tea with a mild sweetness to it.
14:18Thank you very much.
14:23Which part of Japan does this come from?
14:26This is a blend of three teas.
14:28It's the work of Japan's best tea blender.
14:31Oh.
14:33Interesting.
14:34Very aromatic.
14:36The best of Japanese tea.
14:38Oh.
14:39Oh, that's good.
14:45If people sample the tea, they'll know how good it is, then they'll buy it.
14:51This is a great thing about a shopping street.
14:55Shopkeepers give you samples and offer explanations.
14:58Right.
14:59I mean, there are specialty shops where if you go halfway across town, of course, you
15:03can get the same sort of advice, I'm sure, but to be able to get it here in your local
15:07street is, yeah, it's excellent.
15:10Yes.
15:11This kind of sense of local community, which I suppose in earlier days people would have
15:16just taken for granted, but I suppose that sense of community has broken down so much
15:21now that it's something that needs to be nurtured.
15:26If you spend your whole life there, it's like all the shopkeepers are your friends.
15:33It's your own neighborhood, your own community.
15:37A shopping street is a workplace and a living space.
15:40It offers so many of the pleasures of everyday life.
15:45Mm.
15:47Yeah!
15:49Oh!
15:50Oh!
15:54Oh!
15:55Oh!
16:01Oh!
16:25Oh!
16:25Oh!
16:25Oh!
16:27Oh!
16:32Oh!
16:33Oh!
16:37Oh!
16:45Oh!
16:49Oh!
16:49Oh!
16:49Oh!
16:49Oh!
16:49shops where you might get appliances or other types of electronics for your home.
16:54The second are pro shops where professionals and hobbyists look for specialty gear.
17:01The third are component shops that sell the little bits and pieces you might need to repair
17:06a broken-down piece of electronic equipment.
17:09And the fourth are junk shops that sell completely broken-down gear that you can break down and
17:15use for parts yourself.
17:18Matt visits a shop that is currently very popular.
17:22Oh, look at this.
17:24A robot store.
17:25I always love a good robot store.
17:27This is great.
17:28Ah, hello there.
17:29Welcome.
17:30Nice to meet you.
17:32So, can you tell me what sorts of robots are popular with your customers?
17:37Voice recognition robots are big these days.
17:41Here's one example.
17:42What's the weather?
17:48Where's the weather?確かに.
17:51Tokyo's weather.気象庁によると明日の東京の天気は春、後、時々、曇りです。ありがとうございます.
18:11どういたしまして、役に立ててすごく嬉しいよ。かわいい。
18:12How cute. Very
18:13cute. He's
18:14in a good
18:14mood today. Now let's go to
18:18the next location.
18:21The Katsabashi Shopping Street, which is close to the old heart of Tokyo.
18:26The theme here is cooking, but many people come for a particular type of product.
18:35Ah.
18:36Ah.
18:38I could use one of these right about now.
18:42Just kidding.
18:43You know what this is?
18:44This is a food sample.
18:46The kind you see on display in restaurants all over Japan.
18:49That's what this place specializes in.
18:51All sorts of what you might call fake foods.
18:57These food samples are handcrafted from plastic to look just as delicious as the real thing.
19:04You can see at a glance what's on the menu.
19:08But restaurant owners aren't the only buyers.
19:14May I ask, why did you come here to buy sample foods?
19:19These are for an offering to Ganesh, an Indian deity, whose image we happen to have at our Buddhist temple.
19:27So you're a monk?
19:29Yes.
19:30Yes, when we put out an offering of real food, it draws flocks of birds to peck at it.
19:37To avoid that, we've decided to try this plastic food instead.
19:42Fascinating.
19:43This is something I never even imagined.
19:45It lasts forever.
19:47That is great.
19:49It definitely won't go bad.
19:53Matt's next stop is the Sugamo Jizodori Shopping Street.
20:00Now, this is a unique shopping arcade.
20:02It's optimized for elderly residents.
20:05In fact, some people even call it the Granny Ginza.
20:08Check it out.
20:13The shops on this particular arcade appeal to local elderly people
20:17by selling things like canes or baskets or other things you might need to get by.
20:24We'll take a look inside this nail salon.
20:29Hello there.
20:30Konnichiwa.
20:31So what kind of establishment is this?
20:35Our nail salon caters to the senior market.
20:38Many of our customers are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s.
20:43We do their nails for them.
20:45I love the prices.
20:47Too bad I'm too young to take advantage of them.
20:49We're the only nail place that offers a senior discount.
20:54That's our selling point.
20:57Next up is a photo studio.
21:00So what kind of photography studio is this?
21:04We do memorial photographs for the elderly.
21:10Munerary photography.
21:11Now, this is something we don't really have in my country.
21:14In Japan, when someone dies, a photo portrait of them in life is displayed at the funeral.
21:23This studio targets people aged 60 and over.
21:27A customer can have a hair and makeup session before sitting for the photo.
21:32They take more than 100 photos per month.
22:03I'm sure it's going to be great.
22:05With this service, there's no scramble for a photo when a family has to prepare for a funeral.
22:13Japanese shopping arcades are really vibrant examples of traditional Japanese merchant culture.
22:19It's kind of like getting to shop in living history.
22:22And on that note, see you next time.
22:28We'll see you next time.
22:31We'll see you next time.
22:33We'll see you next time.
22:38We'll see you next time.
22:41We'll see you next time.
22:44We'll see you next time.
22:44We'll see you next time.
22:45We'll see you next time.
22:45We'll see you next time.
22:45We'll see you next time.
22:45We'll see you next time.
22:45We'll see you next time.
22:46We'll see you next time.
22:46We'll see you next time.
22:47We'll see you next time.
22:48We'll see you next time.
22:49We'll see you next time.
27:38Thank you very much.
27:46Next time, Japanophiles, featuring Bjorn Heiberg, a knife shop owner who has devoted his life to introducing Japanese knife culture
27:55to the world.
27:58I'll see you next time.
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