A beloved friend of mine tells me that an old sentō (public bath) has been repurposed as a restaurant, somewhere just north of Tamachi Station. Reuse of traditional structures is something I wish Tokyo would consider more often to preserve its remaining architectural heritage and to provide visual warmth and texture to the urban landscape. I head off on a bright autumn morning to locate the former bathhouse.
Minutes from Tamachi Station, in an area of Shiba, I find a maze of weathered watering holes, chain restaurants, karaoke joints and gritty izakaya (Japanese pubs). Surrounded by Keio University, Toita Women's College, the NEC Corporation headquarters, three city hospitals and a few vocational training centers, the area looks like an east Tokyo version of Shinjuku's Golden Gai. I dub it Shiruba Gai (Silver Gai), combining the words "silver," "Shiba" and the Japanese verb "shiru" (to know).
