Ameyoko is an arcade strip in Ueno, the old part of Tokyo. Entwined within and around an aboveground JR train line, the arcade is like an predatory vine of bellowing vendors, night markets, exotic foodstuffs. There's something apocalyptic about digging in a bargain bin for off-the-market goods while the subway roars above your head, splattering condensed rain on the back of your neck. Everything about the place is utilitarian: the lighting is from fluorescent lamps or construction spotlights; walls were tarpaulin rather than actual building materials; and most of the edibles from the foodstands were meant to eaten on the go rather than sitting down. Even the vendors hawk the old-school way - by sheer lung power or squawking abrasively through a megaphone.

I like that there are mysterious passageways within the dank depths underneath the train bridges that are not meant for ordinary folks.