Shopping

We live 9 floors up and have a commanding view across the city - this includes a lot of other people's roof terraces and balconies. We have just had a three day national holiday and I can honestly say that I have only seen one other person in these outdoor spaces in all that time. Where do the Japanese spend their time? I've given this some thought - I'm obviously not busy enough - and I think they shop. When I go to places like Omotosando and Shibuya, the place is heaving - they are out in force and shopping til they drop - I think this phrase was invented for the Japanese. Rumour has it that there is a credit crunch - you simply would not believe it to see the number of people shopping - not just browsing but seriously shopping - loaded with bags.

The shopping here - like everything else - is amazing. We went shopping for a shirt. Bit tricky I thought given that Dave is not a diminutive Japanese man but we went anyway. The shop we bought the shirt in was fascinating. English was limited so we had a lot of sign lanuage and laughter but we got there in the end. Did Sir want long sleeves? He did? Well, how long would that be then? Dave and I had no idea - so a tape measure was produced and the exact measurement taken. A lot of scratching of heads - did they have a shirt that would fit? Ah... (lots of rummaging...), how about this one? Dave then tried it on - and had difficulty keeping the lovely female assistant out of his changing room. She was hovering outside the door and kept trying to go in! Not that he would have minded at all but a man has to keep his dignity!

The shirt was great, it was admired by Dave, me and four assistants in the shop and the decision to purchase was made. We took it to the paying desk where a man started to refold the shirt and insert all the pins to get it back into the bag so that Dave could take it home and take them all out again.... I don't think so. The instruction to cease this activity was received with surprise and disappointment but the customer is always right here in Japan. The shirt was then folded beautifully into a very smart, navy blue paper (for recycling) bag and held on to by another assistant who then walked us very grandly to the front door of the shop and handed Dave the package with a bow and a very long phrase in Japanese. Two more assistants appeared and also bowed and they watched us walk away down the pavement as though we were revered guests who had just left a house party! I wanted to turn and wave but Dave thought it probably was not the thing to do...!

The whole thing was quite charming - time consuming may be, but boy could those guys in M&S learn a thing or two!!