Facades of the buildings ensure the presentation. But it is frequently the backstreets that tell the true story. Not designed to be looked at and owned by the inhabitants, they can provide an average look of an area, somehow generic but descriptive in the same time. Tokyo is associated with a certain look and feel, especially at night. Discovery of a guiding line, an urban canal in the backstreet area, became the formula to capture the look of the city. The peculiar lighting, omnipresent plants and concrete architecture create the elements of the urban mosaic. Japan as a country has always been dependent on water and this waterway seemed to capture the city’s essence.