日本の謎 / Mysteries in Japan #4: 銀座 / Ginza

Walking around Ginza always gives me the feeling that I don't belong there. It's a place full of lights and glitz and price tags that make my eyeballs pop out of my head. But I admit, sometimes a wave of awe washes over me when I see something really pretty (or shiny), and I wish I had a rich husband who bought me really expensive presents.

I spent the afternoon of Labor Day Friday eating chocolate parfaits and window-shopping at places like Wakō with an equally cynical friend—cynical as in, "How in the world do people decide to buy all this amazingly useless stuff?!"

I'm sure I can find ways a $1,300 scarf can be useful. (I could get invited to a really elegant dinner party!) But then I think...no, I'll stick with the scarf my mum bought me at a discount (my employee discount) at my favorite store in hipster Mission District, thanks. And I'll take the chocolate parfait over the husband who buys me gifts, any day.