Nihonbashi

Today the couple I'm staying with took me to Nihonbashi.

In front of Nihonbashi

The Nihonbashi bridge was built in 1603 and made the starting point for Japan's roads.
5 roads known colectively as 'Gokaidou' connected Edo (present Tokyo) with the rest of Japan.

Next we went and looked at the Mitsukoshi main store. The current building was rebuilt in 1929.
Apparently it was Japan's first department store.

Mitsukoshi main store front & the Celestial Maiden statue inside

Next we went to the Mitsui Memorial Gallery and looked at the display they're currently doing about statues of Buddha which were in old temples in Nara. There were also short poems written by a famous poet called Aizu Yaichi.

It was interresting looking at the various bodhisattva, though the explanation text didn't really stay in my head. (heh...)
The short poems were hard to understand, though I just about understood 1. With explanation from Y-san's husband. ^^

On the way home, we rode on Japan's oldest underground line, the Ginza line.
It opened in 1927 and was influenced by the London underground.
The line width is norrower than other Japanese lines.