オフィシャル

I have a funny story. Some months ago, I had a chance to go abroad. Before leaving Japan, I was contemplating what I should buy for souvenirs. I had some candidates in mind, but I ultimately settled on matcha-flavored snacks because that was my colleague's request. Matcha-flavored snacks aren't particularly special for Japanese; they're readily available everywhere and quite inexpensive. I had initially thought they wouldn't be an appropriate souvenir for someone special until the visit. Contrary to my expectations, the snacks were more appreciated than any other souvenir I had ever bought. It was a little surprising for me. Apparently, matcha-flavored snacks are very popular among foreigners and are seen as one of the symbolic Japanese souvenirs to buy when tourists leave Japan. It's fascinating for me to discover Japan through foreigners' eyes.

Here's another amusing story. According to some acquaintances whom I gave the souvenirs, the Shibuya scramble crossing is a must-see destination for foreign visitors to Japan. In fact, when they visited Japan on their holiday, they made sure to visit the Shibuya scramble crossing. As someone who lives in Tokyo, I couldn't believe it. The Shibuya scramble crossing is just an ordinary intersection in front of a train station, isn’t it?

When I shared these funny stories with someone, she mentioned that Ginza also has a scramble crossing. Indeed! I was familiar with the place but had never paid much attention to it. For this reason, I decided to focus on the scramble crossing in Ginza for this blog.