When the Battle of Kate's Throat took a sharp turn in favor of the antibiotics Monday, we jumped on a train bound for Yokohama and spent a few pleasant hours wandering around Sogo department store. Sogo offers everything a person can imagine spread over 13 floors from the sub-basement food emporium to the rooftop garden center where toddlers can romp on artificial turf while their older siblings score goals on the adjacent soccer field. With over 25 restaurants to choose from on the tenth floor, it's hard to decide what to eat. There's even a floor devoted to wedding planning.
The store had a "Girlish Culture" theme going to usher in the new year. We saw Hello Kitty in different incarnations on every floor as we worked our way down the escalator from the roof. This one (above) was in the sub-basement near the entrance to the train station. The people behind Hello Kitty are in line to pick up their New Year's meals: enough food to last three days because Japanese women don't have to cook from December 30 until January 2. (This strikes me as a lovely tradition other countries ought to seriously consider borrowing.)
These dads (above) are catching some rays while their toddlers work off excess energy.The roof offers a splendid view (below). Since the glass walls are at least twelve feet high, there's no chance of falling off the roof either accidentally or on purpose.
While recuperating Kate sipped a strawberry-blueberry smoothie, Mike bought some wine and Belgian beer in the sub-basement. ("Hmm," he seems to be thinking, "perhaps we ought to invest in one of those big casks of sake for Matt's graduation party.")
It's a good thing I'm not much of a shopper or I might spend all my waking hours exploring department stores. And I wouldn't have to brave bad weather to do so since most of the department stores here are connected directly to train and/or subway stations.
Only 3 consecutive days off from cooking? That won't fly in certain American households.
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