Ameyoko

Description:

• Ameyoko is a vibrant, bustling area that sells all sorts of consumer perishables as well as shoes and apparel. Here you can find everything from discounted Levi jeans to seaweed, hair cream to hats and quails' eggs to umbrellas. The market started up partly because it was near the terminus of Ueno Station, the stepping-off point for country folk coming to seek their fortune in the big city, and partly because it became the focus for black-market goods after the war. Ameyoko is a great place to feel the pulse of working-class Japan and to pick up some inexpensive and unusual items. Ameyoko grew out of the ashes of World War II to become one of the biggest black markets in the city. Times may have changed, but it still has the 'black market' feel about it.
• © wcities.com 2013