I did a lot of poking around stores, and found stores of all kinds. I found a store that sells nothing but brushes, which I thought was unique until I found another one a few blocks away. All kinds of brushes! Brushes so soft they feel like fur and brushes so stiff you can scrub your tub with them. Toothbrushes, hair brushes, mushroom brushes, basting brushes, paint brushes for artists and house painters alike. Brooms, too: brooms for sweeping the floor, or the desk, or the table, or the workbench. I saw brushes that were nothing but bristles tied together, so they were brushes on each end. Utilitarian brushes and fancy ones. No combs, though. And no brushes with plastic or metal bristles. All of these brushes were wood and hair of some sort.
I did not buy a brush. I also did not buy a handkerchief, although I found a store (in Roppongi Hills) that sells nothing but hankies. They were displayed like fine jewelry and they cost almost as much. Several very serious salespeople sat behind counters, consulting with customers about their handkerchief needs. Or their handkerchief dreams, I suppose, because no one's nose needs this kind of treatment. I was dressed far too casually to venture past the doorway, but I did see one hanky with a gem attached. I'm hoping it was a rhinestone, but I doubt it. And I saw a whole set of very playful hankies with dogs and cats embroidered on them. Each animal was distorting the edge of a hanky with its teeth or paws. Apart from those two, however, they were just really expensive handkerchiefs. The cheapest one I saw was $21.
Prices in general did not always make sense to me. I saw tights for $40 next to purses for $10. Prices for kimono ranged from $10 to $700, with nothing I could see to justify such a great difference. The $10 one is very tempting, until you try to figure out why they would let it go so cheap. It is this kind of thinking that kept me shopping and not buying.
I found one store I would have liked to get back to, which had a great variety of things made from fabric. There were drawstring bags in several sizes, squares and rectangles for display as wall hangings or to twist up into bags and wrappers (lots of beautiful examples on display). Baby washcloths, coin purses, and my favorite, a 1x2 inch fabric covered mirror and toothpick set. Four carved toothpicks you can carry in your purse just in case you get a bit of seaweed stuck between your teeth. Now that's practical elegance! Sadly, I did not retrace that part of my route, and never saw that nice a selection of fabrics again.
One thing I did not find was stores with an extensive selection of papers, school supplies, or toys. I'm pretty sure Japan does not import all its Hello Kitty items to the United States, but I didn't see anything worth carting back for my granddaughters. I also didn't find any clothing or household items with hilariously bad English. There was plenty of awkward English, and phrases that didn't make any sense, but nothing truly memorable.
At one point I got turned around and stumbled onto a whole district of wholesale shops for restaurants and stores. Whole walls full of menus, or napkins, or sauce dishes. I don't know why those appeal to me, but they do. I particularly like the stainless steel ware, in all sizes and shapes. (Except for 8" round with straight sides, a cake pan I would actually buy.) My only purchase of the day (besides food) was a set of chopstick holders for Yoshiko and Kaji, red cherries to go with their red kitchen.
Asakusa is near the point on the river where tour boats take off, and there's a very different atmosphere at that point. All the people you see are tourists, and you can tell. They walk more slowly, they're carrying different kinds of bags, and they wear different clothes. And, there are more people asking for money on the streets.
Near the boat ride, there's a brewery with a sculpture that is described as "a golden object" on top. I don't know what it's supposed to represent. It looks like it was left there by a giant golden dog. It's distinctive, but I really think it's ugly.
My last day in Tokyo, I visited the "fabric street," where there is shop after shop of fabric. If I had been able to use my credit card, I probably would have bought some, just to have a souvenir from Tokyo, but I am running out of money with one day left. When I got money from the ATM, the minimum was $100 and I spent almost $40 on the extra night with Yoshiko. Most of the rest has been spent on subways. So I don't think I have another $100 of spending (or places to spend it). So it was more look but don't buy for me. Good thing. I have already filled up the suitcases I brought, with no interest in paying extra baggage on the way home.
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