Here, in rural KY, the rural pawn shop is running an average inventory. The prices are the same as for new items or even higher, as if it was intended for drunks, junkies, or morons, which also raises suspicion that the whole enterprise is only a front. The owner shows up once a week; otherwise, two employees are looking after the shop that is usually empty.
Prior to the panic I went in to Tokyo every week day for work. As the panic dragged on with the ever prohibitive and lengthening lockdowns literally they thrust upon us, this first drop to 3 times weekly, to twice a week and eventually once a month. Being home bound for most of the month, I made the most of these monthly trips. Each started out with me in high spirits as I was out of the house for a full day and without my family to constantly call me out in public for not wearing a mask. Each ended with me in a funk, depressed. Besides the ever increasing number of stores that had gone out of business, there was another troubling sign.
Department Stores held a special place in the hearts and minds of those who have ever been to one. As a child growing up in the country, visiting relatives in the big city and going to a department store was a rare and marvelous treat. Everything on every floor was new, wondrous, beyond expectation. So too have those in Tokyo been for me ever since I first arrived in 1992. Kimono with prices far greater than the cost of my parents home!!!! Fountain pens with price tags telling me that they cost more than my first car. Shoppers dressed to the nines. Department stores were filled with things that could not be found out in the sticks nor in most other places other than specialty boutiques.
Wondering through parts of Tokyo that in the not so distance past I spent a large amount of time in, the changing landscape caused an aching sensation in my heart and stomach. One huge department store I spent many Wednesday afternoons in one of its coffee shops, the one on the roof when the weather was cooperative, and did lots of window shopping in with the occasion non coffee purchase is GONE. Shuffling on through the decimated shopping district, I see another small mall, if you will, that I have a long history with. I shopped there in college in the 90s. My then fiancé bought me a Fossil watch for my birthday there. I have been inside then and agin since my return to Japan in 2000 but not recently. As it had remained mostly unchanged up until my last visit, I expected to see the Fossil watch store and several others I would recognize. The funk I was I grew as I saw that all the stores I used to frequent were gone. They were replaced with bargain or discount stores, outlet stores, fortune tellers and high end pawn shops. This is a trend I have seen not only in the mall in Shinjuku but also in department stores throughout Tokyo and the surrounding area.
Since my time here as a starving student, I have long been a patron of resale stores as pawn shops are called here (To be honest, theses are not really pawn shops as pawning is not usually;y done here. They are stores that will buy unwanted items and resell them.) and recently as one who sells to them rather than buying from them as I did in the past. As my kids grow out of their toys and we have no one to pass them on to, I have been making more trips to the local resale stores. Sometime we are hoping steel other items too. The parking lot is always full of people trying to sell stuff. Prices offered are lower and the selection of items for sale rival departments stores in quantity and quality.
In 2018 we lost our local department store. Precovid, but Japan’s economy was sinking before Japan torpedoed it with lockdowns literally. The building being empty and large, developers have been luring in various businesses to open up stores inside. It was starting to work and then covid. Many of the stores that had originally opened in the building have gone under. Replacing them are fortune tellers and resale stores, including a large one that specializes in toys.
Here, in rural KY, the rural pawn shop is running an average inventory. The prices are the same as for new items or even higher, as if it was intended for drunks, junkies, or morons, which also raises suspicion that the whole enterprise is only a front. The owner shows up once a week; otherwise, two employees are looking after the shop that is usually empty.
Prior to the panic I went in to Tokyo every week day for work. As the panic dragged on with the ever prohibitive and lengthening lockdowns literally they thrust upon us, this first drop to 3 times weekly, to twice a week and eventually once a month. Being home bound for most of the month, I made the most of these monthly trips. Each started out with me in high spirits as I was out of the house for a full day and without my family to constantly call me out in public for not wearing a mask. Each ended with me in a funk, depressed. Besides the ever increasing number of stores that had gone out of business, there was another troubling sign.
Department Stores held a special place in the hearts and minds of those who have ever been to one. As a child growing up in the country, visiting relatives in the big city and going to a department store was a rare and marvelous treat. Everything on every floor was new, wondrous, beyond expectation. So too have those in Tokyo been for me ever since I first arrived in 1992. Kimono with prices far greater than the cost of my parents home!!!! Fountain pens with price tags telling me that they cost more than my first car. Shoppers dressed to the nines. Department stores were filled with things that could not be found out in the sticks nor in most other places other than specialty boutiques.
Wondering through parts of Tokyo that in the not so distance past I spent a large amount of time in, the changing landscape caused an aching sensation in my heart and stomach. One huge department store I spent many Wednesday afternoons in one of its coffee shops, the one on the roof when the weather was cooperative, and did lots of window shopping in with the occasion non coffee purchase is GONE. Shuffling on through the decimated shopping district, I see another small mall, if you will, that I have a long history with. I shopped there in college in the 90s. My then fiancé bought me a Fossil watch for my birthday there. I have been inside then and agin since my return to Japan in 2000 but not recently. As it had remained mostly unchanged up until my last visit, I expected to see the Fossil watch store and several others I would recognize. The funk I was I grew as I saw that all the stores I used to frequent were gone. They were replaced with bargain or discount stores, outlet stores, fortune tellers and high end pawn shops. This is a trend I have seen not only in the mall in Shinjuku but also in department stores throughout Tokyo and the surrounding area.
Since my time here as a starving student, I have long been a patron of resale stores as pawn shops are called here (To be honest, theses are not really pawn shops as pawning is not usually;y done here. They are stores that will buy unwanted items and resell them.) and recently as one who sells to them rather than buying from them as I did in the past. As my kids grow out of their toys and we have no one to pass them on to, I have been making more trips to the local resale stores. Sometime we are hoping steel other items too. The parking lot is always full of people trying to sell stuff. Prices offered are lower and the selection of items for sale rival departments stores in quantity and quality.
In 2018 we lost our local department store. Precovid, but Japan’s economy was sinking before Japan torpedoed it with lockdowns literally. The building being empty and large, developers have been luring in various businesses to open up stores inside. It was starting to work and then covid. Many of the stores that had originally opened in the building have gone under. Replacing them are fortune tellers and resale stores, including a large one that specializes in toys.
Yet I wonder how many of these struggling people will still vote Democrat.