19 October 2016
Public convenience
Exploring the covered shopping streets of Nagano
Nagano is very quiet.
I think everything is concentrated around the station, I walked a few loops away from it but always ended up coming back.
There was one covered shopping street, but that seemed to be in serious decline, lots of empty shops.
Most of the places that were open were actually closed to someone like me, there are literally hundreds of bars with seats for the same 6 people to sit at every night.
It was almost impossible to even find a restaurant away from the station, I did eventually. Of course the station itself has lots of department stores, food courts etc. So its not like you will go hungry.
What I did notice on my walk was public toilets. Everywhere. I dont think theres plumbing into houses in Nagano, it was like a Chinese tier 3 city where theres a public toilet on every corner.
So there you go, if you own a house in Nagano, you dont have to worry about keeping your bathroom in working order, just use the one at the end of the street. Very convenient.
The covered shopping street. Quite long, quite empty. The strange green color made it seem even more dated.
The worlds biggest seven eleven.
I am willing to bet this is a love hotel.
Just one of the many many public toilet buildings. Yes, I am now photographing toilets.
I suspect this is an old Sake factory. The town maps suggest this is a big attraction. I guess it is if you like Sake. I will stick to Pepsi as usual.
Halloween runs all month in Japan. This entire shops window is halloween themed. I have absolutely no idea what they sell here. Insurance maybe. Or perhaps fertility treatments.
After much walking, I found a ramen place that wasnt just a bar. It was all smoking! No non smoking section. Oh well, I was here now, and breathing smoke.
I selected the spicy sesame option. Not sure what makes it that as it had no sesame seeds and was not spicy. The pork was good though.
Final picture for the evening, my convenience store favourite of red bean and mochi with fake cream. So rice and beans, like Mexican food.