----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Schauer <Thomas_Schauer@ita.doc.gov>
To: <ffml@fanfic.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 10:50 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [Query]Tokyo
"Adrian Forest" <dalziel_86@hotmail.com> 05/10 3:18 PM >>>
You missed Kawasaki which is between Yokohama and Tokyo. Was it >Yokohama
that he sailed into? For some reason I was thinking Yokosuka...
You also missed Akihabara, discount electronics capital of Japan, and
setting of the eponymous 'Akihabara Cyber-Team'.
Actually, he didn't. Neither Kawasaki or Akihabara are wards of Tokyo.
Kawasaki is a suburb, much like Chofu or Tama, but is not actually a part of
Tokyo itself. Akihabara is one of many famous neigborhoods of Tokyo, but
is not a ward unto itself. Much like Roppongi is a neigborhood, but not
actually a ward.
**No no my dear. If he was going to mention Yokohama to the south, then
he's gotta mention Kawasaki inbetween. It may be a "suburb" but it's
population is close to if not bigger than my whole prefecture thank you.
And I should hope that I know that Kawasaki is not part of Metro Tokyo, it
is just below Ota-ku...where I happen to be moving to.
**To be percise Roppongi and Akihabara are just banchi. Japanese use an odd
address system which divides a city up into districts, then within each
district the blocks are numbered, and the buildings on the blocks are
numbered according to when they were built in relation to the others. It
makes findign someone's house withouy good directions kinda hard.
Speaking of Roppongi, one other note I would make: because it's near a lot
of embassies (including the US embassy), Roppongi tends to be the place
where a lot of foreigners (gaijin) hang out. I mention this merely b/c it
seems to me to be a natural place for a character to run into a foreigner,
if you need it for fic purposes.
** I dunno. I see a bunch of foreigners in Shibuya ekimae area often.
Akihabara has quite a few foreigners running around looking at electronics.
But if you just mean in terms of bars and clubs, then you would be right.
Also many foreign businesses are located in Roppongi, and new up coming
internet companies are located in Shibuya. A few are in Tamachi.
Actually, I've noticed that there is not so much a character to wards as
there are to neigborhoods. After all, there is some difference in the
character of Shibuya and Harajuku, even though both are in Shibuya ward...
** Yeah, the short-skirted koukousei (high school) girls hang out in
Harajuku....as do some middle school kids. People about 19 and up hang out
in Shibuya...not that their skirts are any longer either. Old men tend to
stick to Shinjuku ...no skirts here, not underwear either on the waitresses
at the "no-pan shabu shabu".
J