Today we crossed the “Bridge of Tears” into San’ya. So as aforementioned, there was a book written by Edward Fowler called San’ya Blues, which “offers the reader a look into the laboring life of Tokyo…an area that is ‘physically and psychologically segregated from the rest of Tokyo’” (Cabrera)(Fowler 16). Truthfully, I did not even know that we were walking into San’ya. When walking down the street, you can easily see the newly constructed SkyTree, which is the “world’s highest free-standing broadcasting tower”. (http://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/archive/). The view of the SkyTree and the fact that it is within viewable distance from San’ya is just unimaginable, at least to me. If a city can be able to provide improvements to one section, how about doing so on the other? But again, this is my first thought after walking under the train bridge and entering San’ya. (Also, that train bridge IS NOT the Bridge of Tears).
When we got to Namidabashi (Bridge of Tears), I was absolutely in shock. I did not expect Namidabashi to be a huge and relatively clean intersection. And when we went on a tour with one of the representatives of Sanyukai, I became more and more shocked. I was born and raised in New York (before moving to South Carolina in 2007) and I have walked past different areas full of homeless and low income people. And where they were living was not a pretty site. But in San’ya, the streets were clean and presentable. There were a few people who traveled around bikes and walked their dogs. But still, that doesn’t hide the fact that there as still some very sensitive situations in San’ya. Such as when we first met the representative that took us on a tour of San’ya, we met up with him in front of the Sanyukai, an area that provides free clinical services from Monday to Saturday and provides food and tea to those who need it. As we were listening to one of the volunteers talk in a small alleyway tucked behind a building that was either being constructed or renovated, more than twenty men were sitting down, drinking tea and eating food that was provided by Sanyukai.
Can’t really judge a book by its cover huh? I mean, you can see an area that seems like a normal middle class area and deem it as fine, but what would you think if you saw a woman walk in the middle of the street with one sock on and the other foot sporting what seems like foot infections or injuries. Basically, as one of our professors stated, she shouldn’t be walking.
I will just end the blog with this statement; you can’t really tell what the situation is in an area you have never visited. But it does help knowing its history. Because if I hadn’t known how San’ya came to be from Fowler, I wouldn’t have made anything of this picture:
What do you think?
Hey Kaitlin! Thanks. And I totally agree with you. And I wasn’t expecting for Sunshine City in Ikebukuro to be that way also. But as we were walking to the other hotel to pack up our luggage, I saw some men sleeping on the side of a stairwell. It’s really interesting how this situation can be easily hidden, but sad that it is that way.
I enjoyed your perspective on the Sanya visit. After reading Fowler’s book I expected a much different Sanya than what we saw. As you said, you can’t judge a book by its cover…you have to delve deep into these places to get the true story. While Sanya looks pretty nice from the exterior Its walls are home to many trials and tribulations that people have had to endure to make a living. If only these walls could talk…
I liked how you mentioned that we can’t judge a book from its cover, because I literally thought the same thing when we were walking around Sanya. By reading “San’ya Blues,” we were able to understand the hardships and pain that the residents of Sanya might be going through, and it shocked me that the area of Sanya looked relatively nice. One can’t just make an area look nice and expect the hardships of the people there to disappear.
Really like your photo! Good point as well, if I hadn’t read about San’ya’s history, I might have written off San’ya as just an older part of town that hasn’t yet been modernized, and had I been there without a guide I might have never wandered on my own past the free clinic. There were a few more upscale areas in San’ya like the covered marketplace, and if that was all I had seen I’d think San’ya wasn’t at all out of the ordinary.
In fact, the marketplace was the only time I actually saw “San’ya” written on any sign. I wouldn’t have even known where I was if not for that sign and being on the tour.