"Tokyo Stock Exchange - Roaring 'Bubble' Years" - (June 1990)

A visit to the Tokyo Stock Exchange two times on the same day in June 1990 - once before it was jumping, and then again later (after going out for lunch), when the trading was roaring along. There are different ways of determining how long the bubble economy lasted, with some saying at the end of 1989, and others the early months of 1991. On the day I visited in June 1990, there was no sign of gloom, there was clapping on the floor, and it's obvious that many thought the high times could somehow continue.

Also in this clip is a cashier manually entering the price at a cash register, me having a glass of "ice coffee", and views of a vast sea of trucks on the elevated expressways. Also notice how the high school girls visiting the stock exchange all have very long skirts. It was right around this time (maybe a year later) that I remember seeing the first set of mini-skirt uniform schoolgirls, which would have been unthinkable in the eighties.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

Category:

Education

Tags:

• 1990
• Bubble
• Stocks
• Trucks

[andshiga]

It almost felt like I was there. Thank you!

[lylehsaxon]

@andshiga I'm glad you liked it - and I'm especially glad you mention the feeling of being there, as that was the effect I was trying to achieve. - LHS

[saintsaens21]

Tokyo still feels like it is in the 1990s actually, since most high rises (out o Shinjuku) are still boxy and quite ugly, very little futuristic stuff like the legend has it.

[lylehsaxon]

@saintsaens21 It depends on which part of the city you're in. Also, it's not so much that the design of individual buildings is futuristic as that there is a strong push to destroy old stuff, so there are very few very old buildings. Sometimes they tear down some very cool structures in order to put up new boxes... It's all about "Destroy anything old - build something new". - LHS

[HP1212555]

Pretty cool. Not used to seeing such wild camera angles! ;)

[lylehsaxon]

Yeah - I was trying to be innovative, but the result isn't so good.  As I took more and more video, I used the diagonal angles less and less... - LHS

[andrespereyda]

all that panning made me sea-sick, but thank you for uploading. retro technology

[j3212822]

Those were the best of times

[lylehsaxon]

@lewistalbot111 I just had another look at this one after not seeing it for a while - in light of the current economic troubles, it seems like it's a completely different world, which in a way, it was. The current young generation are the children of the young people in this video... - LHS

[Tobasm]

Imagine trying to find Dave in that crowd.

[lylehsaxon]

The robot - I'm not sure how obvious (or not) it is, but the idea of the robot is to allow people to practice the hand signals used on the floor while trading. Not something I feel inclined to learn, but when prices were high, I guess it looked cool. The shrines - yeah, there are actually a number of small ones scattered about the city - some on rooftops. - LHS