3 in 30 - 2000.09.24
Takoyai shop along the bike path behind our house
Along the bike path is a relatively new stand that sells a popular Japanese fast food called takoyaki. It is also one of the standard festival foods and any neighborhood festival larger than the one in Matsubara-cho will have a stand selling takoyaki. For those more familiar with western type foods, takoyaki is a fried dough mixture (somewhat like pancake batter) made with flour, eggs, herbs and spices, and of course—tako.
They are fried in small half round cups and turned as they are cooking so that you get a ball. Usually served six to a package, each fried ball is about 3/4 the size of a golf ball. In the package, they are covered in a slightly sweet salty sauce and covered with shaved flakes of dried bonito.
Naturally a stand that has a permanent location will have better quality materials and is cooked better than the itinerant festival stands. Still, no matter how well it is done, a festival is not complete without some takoyaki. Tako and tacos, Japanese octopus and Mexican crisp tortilla are some of Candy's favorites.
Small Cleaning shop. White shirts ¥130,
Skirt ¥290, One piece ¥600, Coat #680
Just behind the takoyaki stand is a small shop that does cleaning. Much of the clothing made in Japan takes special cleaning techniques, particularly silk. There are quite a few cleaning shops in the neighborhood. Also contributing to the number of cleaning shops is that the size of houses and apartments do not lend themselves to having a large laundry room. Having someone else do your laundry not only alleviates the burden of maintaining the facilities, but spreads the money around the neighborhood.
Our bath room, actually the room with the wash basin leading in to the bath room, has a small tile section in the corner with a drain in the middle. In most cases, this is where the washing machine would be. Think apartment sized washers with a basket the size of a sixteen liter (four gallon) bucket. A family with a teenager would have to run the washer four times a day, every day to keep up. A family with more than one teenager? They must send their laundry out to the cleaners.
Computer Information Techology,
Barbershop and ever present trash and
recycling containers at street level.
Just next door, in the same building as the video rental and eyeglasses stores, is this entrance to second floor businesses. The sign by the door to the stairs names one place "Computer Information Technology - CIT". It certainly sounds high-tech, but I couldn't think of a more ambiguous title for a company if I tried.
Also upstairs is a barbershop which is easily identified by the red and white stripes...and in this case also blue.