Today’s rainy walk took me through a very old area: Nihonzutsumi, Senzoku and Ryusen in Taito. The top photo is a sake shop called Mizukami Sake Honten; the torii and the cute birds are from Asakusa Otori Jinja, famous for its lucky rakes; and that little unimposing willow tree? Aha. It’s called the Mikaeri Yanagi or Looking Back Willow Tree. During the Edo period, a similar willow stood at the entrance of Yoshiwara, the famous entertainment district. It is said that customers who visited Yoshiwara always paused to look back when they left. The current tree is roughly in the same spot, and if you walk in a south-western direction, you’ll go through present-day Senzoku, which still has a red-light district.
I love this area. It may be run-down (though it’s increasingly becoming a victim of gentrification), but there’s a story on every street corner.
