It’s bold move to label a street as ‘the Champs-Élysées of Tokyo’ especially when said street runs immediately parallel to Shimbashi, a district of the Japan capital that is about as far removed from the glorious Parisian thoroughfare as any place could be.  Still, this is where the Tokyo street finds itself, as a link between Shiodome and Toranomon Hills, and the centerpiece of some bold plans for a capital city zeroing in on the 2020 Olympic Games.  Welcome to Shintora Avenue.

The reality is somewhat less glamorous.  Shintora Avenue, in functional terms, is actually a part of the Shimbashi-Toranomon stretch of Loop Road No. 2, opened to traffic in March, 2014.  At one end of this stretch, the high-rise complex of Toranomon Hills, and if we’re sticking with the Paris-inspired labels, our avenue’s Arc de Triomphe?  

But grand ideas need grand expressions to get people listening.  Ahead of the 2014 opening of Toranomon Hills, press releases from the developers talked of aspirations to ‘catalyze international influx’.  Well, getting yourself labelled ‘the Champs-Élysées of Tokyo’ is sure to at least pique the curiosity of most travellers.  

All of this seems rather unfair on Shintora Avenue though.  A bit of Loop Road No. 2 is never likely to be described as "la plus belle avenue du monde" (“the most beautiful avenue in the world”) as our French brothers and sisters sometimes refer to the Champs-Élysées.  Still, it’s early days for Shintora Avenue, and it seems to have gotten off to a good start.  In fact it’s doing a pretty good job at being charming, something that could never be said of nearby Shimbashi and Shiodome.  The avenue is flanked by a curious mix of modern eco-conscious design, buttoned-up business function, and the kind of peeling back-street residential charm that you wouldn’t expect from corporate Tokyo. And for urban Japan, the sidewalks are delightfully spacious!

One of the newest fittings to Shintora Avenue is the Tabisuru Shintora Market (旅する新虎マーケット), opened in February of this year.  Made a reality by the tongue-twisting 'Association of Chiefs of Regional Governments for the Revitalization of Regional Economy Taking Advantage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games', Tabisuru Shintora Market operates under the slogan of ‘The Japan Connect’ aiming to celebrate ‘people, goods, and things’ from across Japan.  Themes will be changed every three months of so.  

At the time of visiting, Tabisuru Shintora Market comprised four stands (or mini-stores) dotted up and down the Toranomon half of Shintora Avenue and selling regional food and drink, typically at counter-style seating. Immediately across the road from Toranomon Hills a larger store (produced by Isetan Mitsukoshi) sells souvenirs and trinkets, and next door the Tabisuru Cafe, serves dishes based around the project’s current theme (Yamagata, Yugawara, Takaoka, Ube, and Imabari regions of Japan).

Shintora Avenue’s unlikely mix of regional flavours, modern design, big business, and ageing Japan, actually serve the area rather well.  In a way the avenue might be seen as embodying the current mood of a Tokyo engaging in A/B tests and trial and error as it make its feverish and giddy approach to the 2020 Olympic Games. Shintora Avenue will never compare well to the Champs-Élysées, but it shouldn’t be concerned about this.  As a comparison it’s empty and silly. Tokyo is big enough, creative enough and glorious enough to be proud of its own charms.

 

See the original article at www.city-cost.com