Shinagawa

When the brick buildings of Ginza collapsed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, one shopping street took the rubble and laid it over its own muddy road. On the strength of that connection it took the name Ginza — and became the first of more than three hundred "○○ Ginza" shopping streets across Japan. This is Togoshi Ginza, in Shinagawa.

The street has an unusual convention. The "Togoshi Ginza croquette" is not one shop's product but a brand belonging to the whole street. Around twenty businesses — butchers, delicatessens, restaurants — each sell their own version, so judging the place on a single croquette means misreading it.

Timing matters too. From 15:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday, and 14:00 to 19:00 on Sundays and holidays, the street becomes a designated shopping zone closed to vehicles. Go then and you can walk down the middle of the road. At other hours cars thread the narrow lane, and the experience is entirely different.