160903-0049 - Tokyo Ginza

Advertising signs on the head office of Ono Piano (小野ピアノ本社ビル) one block away from the Ginza 4-chome intersection in Tokyo, ca. 1953 (Showa 28).

The shop on the first floor housed the Sanoya boutique (佐野屋). Just outside the frame on the right was the Lion beer hall.

Around the corner was the gay café Brunswick (ブランズウィック), frequented by Japanese authors Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫, 1925–1970) and Edogawa Ranpo (江戸川 乱歩, 1894–1965). Japanese singer Akihiro Miwa (美輪 明宏, 1935~) worked there as a ‘boy’.

The sign above the Canon camera advertises Charlie Chaplin’s movie Limelight, which was released in Japan on February 18, 1953.