When I first moved to Tokyo, I lived here in this neighborhood. I had just left my small hometown to live alone in the big city, and can still taste the mix of excitement and apprehension I felt back then. There was a Chinese restaurant which served big portions for cheap prices, and it’s still around, its shop sign unchanged. These streets crowded with restaurants and neon signs evoke traditional Japan more than modern Tokyo, something which always made me feel at home.
Years have passed, so not everything is the same. But there’s still that equilibrium between the old and the new, the urban and the rural, that keeps things in comfortable balance.
A local friend of mine turned his family home into a stylish cafe. It now has a devoted following, and is a popular spot to meet up with friends.
When I wander around this neighborhood, I like to do so in style, in a vintage-patterned sweater made from high-quality materials. Old or new; urban or rural; past or present – no one can say that one is better than the other. But by taking things from the past and reimagining them in the present, we can imbue them with new life.
In our cities and our sweaters, time weaves in new elements as we journey ever forward.