My Tokyo Trip(3) – Yanesen – “The town of cats” without cats 我的东京之旅(3) – 没有猫的猫町 – 谷根千

繼上回離開淺草後，我想找一個地方慢慢散步，就到了東京著名的老街，谷根千。

leaving Asakusa, I suddenly want to find a place to take a walk. So I came to Yanesen, a famous old street district in Tokyo.

谷根千是谷中、根津和千駄木的合稱，它的街景和京都的老街很相似，展現出東京最道地、最傳統的面孔，而谷中一帶更是著多的「貓町」，作為愛貓之人，我更是不能錯過。

Yanesen is the short term of three places: Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi. It is an old district of Tokyo. The street view is just like Kyoto and shows the most local and most traditional view of Tokyo. And the place is called the “town of cats”, as there are many cats in the town.

坐JR到日墓里站，我踏上了前往谷中的道路，但，迷路了。胡亂地走到了一個很大的墓園，不禁在Google上查看，原來這裡是谷中靈園，東京其中一個著名的墓園，就連德川幕府第15代將軍德川慶喜，還有前日本首相鳩山一郎都葬於此處。春天時這裡更是櫻花盛開，故成為觀光景點，不過一個墓園竟成為觀光點，頗為有趣。走了一回，我竟發現真的有人來掃墓，便不打擾先人，匆匆離去。

I took the JR to the Nippori Station and found the way to Yanesen but I got lost. I walked and saw a big cemetery. I searched google and found it is the famous Yanaka Cemetery. Even Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th shogun of the tokugawa shogunate and Ichiro Hatoyama, 35th Prime Minsiter of Japan, were buried here. In Spring, the path of the cemetery is fully coverd by cherry blossoms which make it a famous spot. But I though it’s really funny for a Cemetery to be a hot spot.

找回正確的路，沿老舊大街走到了谷中，終見到一條長長的石階梯，這裡就是谷根千最有名的「夕陽階梯」，黃昏時夕陽會恰到好處的撒滿整個階梯，十分醉人。不過我來的時間尚早，夕陽看不到，遊客倒看到不少。

I found the correct way and went to Yanaka along an old street. What I saw was a long stone stair. It is the famous “sunset stair”. You may see the beautiful sunset shining on the stair. But it’s still early when I came. I couldn’t see the sunset but a lot of tourists.

沿階梯而下，是谷中銀座商店街，這裡的商店大多以貓為招牌，整條街道充滿猫的氛圍，可惜，走畢整條路我卻見不到一隻真貓，或者，貓咪們都俾遊客們嚇走了，還是我太嚇人把猫都嚇走了？我不知道。可能碰巧這個時間的貓都不知走到哪裡去吧！但如果真的是因為太多遊客把貓都嚇走了，我會感到十分可惜。希望有在近來去過谷根千的朋友予以解答。

Stepping down the stair is the Yanaka Ginza Shopping District. Most of the shops take cat as their logo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see any cats. Maybe they were all scared away by the tourists. Maybe they were scared by me. Who knows? Maybe it’s not the time for the cats to appear. If they were really scared by tourists, I will feel sorry about this.

我還是害怕人多的地方，匆匆走過商店街，轉到了老街區，這是悠閒的氛圍，寧靜的感覺，縱然遊客不少，但大家都輕鬆自在，沒有那種旅行團式走馬看燈然後趕著去下個目的地的匆忙。馬路兩旁是傳統的日式房屋，上居下舖，店舖多是居酒屋、餐廳、花店，另加不同特色的咖啡店，增添了一些異國情調。

I didn’t like crowded place so I went through the Yanaka Ginza Shopping District quickly and turned into the old street area. It is the street of relax and quiet. Although there were quite a lot tourists, they all looked relaxed. I couldn’t feel those hurrying of a tour group. The street was surround by Japanese traditional buildings with residential at the upper and shops on the ground. Izakayas, restaurants, florist shops, and also western bars, making the street a little bit exotic.

沿路漫步，細味街中小店、遊客、美女，有洋人、有日本人、也有華人，都表現得慵懶自在，這才是放假嘛！我想每一位忙碌的城市人，如有機會到東京來，就來谷根千吧，讓寧靜的環境放鬆你的思維，讓漫遊放空洗滌你的心靈。

I walked along the street and looked around, the shops, tourists, ladies, there were foreigners, Japanese, and also Chinese. All they looked lazy and relax. I believed it is the real feeling of a holiday. If you have the chance, come to this place, to relax your mind, to clear your mind.

當然，我來到谷根千也是有目的，就是一訪日劇《孤獨的美食家》中推介的居酒屋「すみれ」，聞說這裡的梅干酒特別香特別好，但我來到的時候，它，竟然沒開！！！！好吧，Free Ride行程有它的好處，也有它的壞處，哈哈。

Of course, I had a reason to Yanesen. I wanted to visit a Izakaya called すみれ. It was introduced in a Japanese cuisine “Kodoku no Gourmet”. The plum wine is very good!! But, it was closed……

因約了和朋友晚膳，也差不多是時候先回民宿了，重回到夕陽階梯，還是見不到一隻貓，而在準備落下的太陽下，仍有無數人群遊客。

Time to dine with friends so I went down to the “sunset stair”. But I still can’t see any cats but a lot of tourists….

在月台上，太陽被白雲遮擋了一半，但仍無阻它的耀眼和溫䁔，也許，這也是東京老街谷根千的生命力的寫照。下次，早一點來，看看有沒有貓吧！

On the platform of the JP, the sun was half blocked by the cloud. But I could still feel the shine and warmth of the sun. Maybe it is a portrayal of the life and energy of the old Yanesen. Next time, I will come early, to see if there is any cats!

最後，也為大家製作了小視頻，希望大家欣賞 :)

Again, a video for you!

!steemitworldmap 35.727628 lat 139.7670201 long d3scr

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Thanks for spending your time to read my articles. I like to share stories of Hong Kong. I wish you may support me and I will keep going!

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