Page 58 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Tokyo

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56  T OK Y O AREA B Y AREA

3 Shitamachi 6 Drum Museum
Museum Drum Museum
Map 4 E3.  Tawaramachi stn,
Ginza line. Tel (03) 3842-5622.
2-1 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku. Map 3 C3.
Tel (03) 3823-7451.  Ueno stn, Open 10am–5pm Wed–Sun. &
Hibiya & Ginza lines. £ Keisei-Ueno
stn, Keisei line; Ueno stn, many lines. Over 600 drums from across
Open 9:30am–4:30pm Tue–Sun. & Japan and the world are on
display at this museum.
Dedicated to preserving the None of the text describing
spirit and traditional artifacts the instruments is in English,
of Shitamachi (see p49), this but a world map on the wall
hands-on museum is both shows the provenance of each
fascinating and fun. On the drum, including diembe drums
first floor are re-creations of Appetizing beer and food models on from Mali, cuicas from Brazil,
Edo-era shops such as a candy display, Kappabashi-dori chimes of Chinese origin, and
store and a copper smith’s. 5 Inaricho District wedding drums from Benin.
Second-floor exhibits include All the unmarked drums can
tradi tional toys, tools, and and Kappabashi- be played with the sticks and
photo graphs. All the exhibits dori mallets provided. A blue dot
were don ated by Shitamachi warns that a more delicate
handling is required; a red dot
residents. Kamishibai perfor- Inaricho District and Kappabashi-dori
mances (storytelling using Map 4 D3, 4 E2–3.  Inaricho & signifies “do not touch.” The
large, hand-painted cards) take Tawaramachi stns, Ginza line. museum’s first-floor gift shop
place on weekends. The nearby sells a good selection of local
Shitamachi Museum Annex Inaricho District is the Tokyo handicrafts, traditional souvenirs,
(north of Ueno Park) is in the head quarters for wholesale and even a few drums.
traditional style of shop-houses religious goods. Small wooden
of the mid-Edo period (late boxes to hold Buddhas and 7 Tokyo SkyTree
17th century). family photos, paper lanterns,
bouquets of brass flowers 東京スカイツリー
4 Ameyoko Market (jouka), Shinto household 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida. Map off 4 F3.
shrines, and even prayer beads Tel (0570) 55-0634.  £ Tokyo
Ameyoko Market SkyTree stn & Oshiage stn, Tobu line.
can be found here. Most of the
Map 3 C3.  Ueno stn, Hibiya & shops lie on the south side of Open 8am–10pm daily. &
Ginza lines; Ueno-Okachimachi stn, Asakusa-dori, between Inaricho
Oedo line. £ Okachimachi stn, and Tawaramachi stations. At 634 m (2,080 ft), this is the
Yamanote line; Ueno stn, many lines. Kappabashi-dori, named after tallest building in Japan. While
the mythical water imps (kappa) its main function is broad-
One of the great bazaars in who supposedly helped build a casting, it also hosts a large
Asia, Ameyoko is a place where bridge (bashi) here, is Tokyo’s mall, restaurants, an aquarium,
almost anything is available, at a center for kitchenware and the and a planetarium. The Tembo
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discount. In Edo times, this was source of the plastic food Deck, at 350 m (1,150 ft) above
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the place to come and buy ame displayed in most restaurant ground level, offers 360-degree
(candy). After World War II black- windows. Connois seurs hold views across Tokyo, and another
market goods, such as liquor, two Kappabashi stores, Maizuru viewing deck, Tembo Galleria, is
ciga rettes, and nylons, started and Biken, in high esteem. at 450 m (1,475 ft).
appearing here, and ame
acquired its second meaning as
an abbreviation for American
(yoko means alley). An area of
tiny shops packed under the
elevated train tracks, Ameyoko
is no longer a black market, but
it is still the place for bargains
on foreign brands. Clothes and
accessories are concen trated
under the tracks, while food
stalls, notably seafood, line the
street that follows the tracks.
Tropical fruits and exotic food
imports fill the stalls inside the
Ameyoko Center Building. A worldwide collection of traditional drums, Drum Museum

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