Pocketsize Japan

MANILA, Philippines - Sometimes, you only have a day to explore a major city. This tour takes you around Japan in an afternoon.

My Slow Food Japan counterparts showed me a different side of Ginza district in Tokyo during my last visit to the popular destination. Though known for flagship stores of international brands like Prada and Chanel and a multi-story Uniqlo, Ginza has its local Japanese side, too.

It, of course, takes local guides like Noriko and Toshiya Sasaki to show me this side of Ginza. We found two shops that showcase different prefectures which displayed the area’s local produce and also offered freshly cooked local snacks.

Not too far from the signature houses we chanced upon Gunmo prefecture’s antenna store, as Toshi calls it. Though the real estate in Tokyo, particularly in the Ginza district, is expensive, the prefectures, maybe through their chambers of commerce or local governments, find prime corner spaces to house their products. 

Toshi showed me the prefecture’s specialties as we were also looking for a place to have a snack and coffee.

It’s almost across the famous Kabuki theater where performances still happen and on that Sunday we could have caught the 4:30 p.m. performance if we had more time. Something cultural in Ginza, I thought, not just shopping. Kabuki, after all, is a signature Japanese theater unlike any other in the world. 

Also walking distance from the Gunmo is yet another prefecture’s antenna store – this time the Iwate prefecture which is famous for its iron industry. Iron teapots are popular in Japan because it also gives a natural iron supplement along with the tea.

How nice that you can actually visit other places in Japan while staying in the city. Out of 40-something prefectures around 18 of them have shops in Tokyo. Now that’s ingenious marketing and certainly a replicable “best practice” in tourism and in helping MSMEs reach the tourist market as well as their local residents who have since moved to Tokyo. 

Now imagine us having a Bicol store, a Cordillera store, a Palawan store… It can be by region and the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) can collaborate to make these stores a reality in accessible areas for both tourists and locals, like perhaps Makati or Bonifacio Global City. 

And while you’re at it, serve regional delicacies like suman and local coffee and herbal teas in a café within the store. So I can taste marang again without going to Davao. Or fresh carabao milk pastillas from Tacloban. Or eat palabok the way they make it in Pampanga. A one-stop regional shop to allow visitors to enjoy the local food of each region.

The plus of our Japan cultural walking tour is our short visit to the Kabuki Theater where food is designed around the Kabuki theme. Cookies and cakes with Kabuki masks as inspiration dot the kiosks and carts in the ground floor of the Kabuki theater. Tourists will surely find something to take home. 

That’s the other side of Ginza. And on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. enjoy walking on the main drag of Ginza. The whole stretch covering the famous department stores and big name brands is a pedestrian zone on these days. Enjoy the quiet of Tokyo’s genteel crowd even while being excited by all the shops around. It’s the most peaceful shopping experience one can have. 

I wonder when we can replicate this in Manila or Makati. Next time we have visitors to take around town we can just take them to our many regions through these pocket stores even while they stay close to the airport and city. And they need not go home empty-handed as souvenirs, local food and crafts and the ambience of such local stores will be within reach for all.