GINZA LINE

Shibuya is a sociological goldmine, a huge research project on the psyche from young to old that may not yield answers as the city keeps reinventing itself with every new generation. The new joins while the old hangs on.  Look at the 'human tsunami' crossing from 4, even 8, direction when the horn beeps green. It can be scary, especially if you come from a 200-acre farm in Oklahoma, even though they play that Broadway tune in oldie bars. We used to stay in the Akasaka - Aoyama and like it a lot, they have style. Then comes Shimbashi, one of my favorites. It champions street foods without any question, my kind of place. Ginza is what it is, not Japan but Ginza, so what is there to say? Again, a few stops of obscurity before Ueno  where it meets the Hibiya Line. The next stop is a godsend to any aspiring chef, or wannabe home cook like me ... Tawaramachi, where the famous Kappabashi or Kitchen Avenue is ... sort of 'everything you wanted to equip your kitchen with, but are afraid to buy' type of a mad scene. The terminus is of course Asakusa, resplendent with the charisma of Sensoji, arguably one of the leading, if not the most visited temple in the country.