Alley Cat

Tokyo is filled with the kinds of alleys that writers have long romanticized from East Asia. When I was in Hong Kong last spring on holiday, alleys were abundant but they weren't this clean and safe.

Along this alley in Shinjuku there were food vendors. No restaurant was packed, but each had five or ten hungry clients. Some cooked meats on skewers and others made soups with noodles.

More than a few European tourists were seen photographing this picturesque alley.

Shinjuku is a very busy business district where the Tokyo government offices are located. There are more skyscrapers in this neighborhood than others, but none can compare to New York's Midtown. (Wait twenty years and Tokyo will look more like Midtown, I am convinced.)

Tokyo appears to have far more restaurants than any one city could possibly support. Where the goal in New York is to have the most elite, packed restaurant possible, most restaurants are the opposite here. Many are tiny with twenty seats or less. Few have been full.