a scan a day

Russ, 70s, Tokyo

At our home in Den-en-chōfu, about to enjoy a delicious breakfast. My parents both worked full-time when we lived in Tokyo so we had a housekeeper (Kitsutani-san!) who took care of most of the cooking & cleaning. However, I did most of the shopping. Things that weren’t delivered by the grocer (like these cornflakes here, & other dry goods) — produce, meats, baked items — were picked up at different shops around the neighborhood.

Before we moved out into the suburbs, we were right in the heart of the city, in the Roppongi district, a few blocks away from the Hotel Okura (where we lived for the first two months we were in Japan while we waited for our shipment — i.e., furniture — to arrive). It was a fantastic location — in a tiny compound with four or five large — by Japanese standards — 2-story homes. We were only there for a year, though — the compound was bulldozed to make way for a shopping complex & we moved out of the city & into the ‘burbs.