Tokyo’s Best Neighbourhoods
Tokyo Through Our Eyes - Part 1
We know that Tokyo isn’t exactly Off the Eaten Track. But…
If you’ve spent any time on social media in the last few years Tokyo is very much on everyone's eaten track! Tourism is booming here, and once the algorithm clocks your Japan searches you’ll be served up endless reels on where to go and what to do (we would urge you to take quite a lot of these with a grain of salt. If you’re being served up that content, needless to say thousands of others are also). In the future we will bring you further guides that are much more “Off the Eaten Track”, but in launching OTET, we thought we would give you our version of Tokyo that gets to the heart of what we want to do here - a deeply personal insight into one of the greatest cities in the world. These won’t be your typical guides filled with a bunch of recommendations of singular places (there are a few of them of course) but it’s more about vibes. This is the OTET way - just enough organisation and the right amount of serendipity and discovery that allows those unforgettable moments to occur. So we thought we would start with our favourite neighbourhoods: Jimbocho and Shimokitazawa.
One thing we love about Tokyo is that it’s the kind of place where you could spend a lifetime and still stumble across something new just by turning down a different alley. Each of us picked a Tokyo neighbourhood we love and that has its own unique soul. But with any neighbourhood don’t get too stuck on going to an individual place. Both of these places have excellent vibes. Use this as a starting point, follow your nose, and in a city like Tokyo don’t forget to look up. You might find just your new favourite spot nestled into the 7th floor of a non-descript office building - in this city, it’s much more common than you’d think.
Jimbocho
In the alleyways of Kanda
Minsky
Back when I was living in Shanghai, I’d be in Tokyo once or twice a year and would base myself around Kanda. The first time was a total fluke, I booked a place there without knowing anything about it, but I loved it, so I just kept going back.
The location is great - right on the Yamanote Line and near hotspots like Akihabara and Tokyo station - so getting around is a breeze. But despite the proximity to these major, crowded areas, Kanda maintains more of an old-school, neighborhood vibe without the crowds and yet you don't have to compromise on food and nightlife. Areas around Kanda station are packed with great izakaya and hidden gems, just search the yokocho alleys near the station for places like Tori no Kakehashi or Mimasuya, which is said to be one of Tokyo's oldest izakaya. For drinks, Kagura has a great sake selection.
However my current neighborhood obsession is Jimbocho. Turns out it’s right next to Kanda and I had never ventured that far! Jimbocho is famous for two of my favorite things - used book shops and coffee, often together. There are shops lining the streets, with books literally overflowing out onto the alleyways. It can be hard to pick which one to go into, so just wander the streets and pop into whichever one tickles your fancy. Personally, I love reading in Japanese, but it’s hard to get cheap Japanese books outside of Japan. But at shops like Sancha Bookstore or Kitazawa Shoten you can get them for just a few dollars.
Finding English books can be a little more tricky, but you’ll have a good chance at shops like Vintage Jinbocho, Yaguchi, or Isseido. The selection tends to be very random, as does the sorting. But it’s fun to rummage around and you can find treasures beyond just books. Yaguchi has a large collection of affordable kokeshi dolls, which seem to be trending pretty heavily overseas these last couple of years, so it’s a great place to stock up if you aren’t heading to Tohoku where many of them come from.
Books overflow into the streets in many of the used bookstores around Jimbocho. Hakan Nural via Unsplash
But Jinbocho isn’t just for the bookish types. There are amazing collections of antique maps and woodblock prints - both originals and reproductions to fit any budget. Hara Shobo specializes in art books, but for me the real highlight is the woodblock print gallery on the second floor. Shinsendo is all about maps, and has a really cool collection of old photos and postcards, some of which have been hand colored. Or if you’re into music, climb past the ripped up, 90s and 00s J-Rock posters to the 3rd floor shop Rock On King, where you can find all kinds of music-related magazines and memorabilia. Bumpodo is a great spot to stock up on stationary, with fun Japanesey versions of things, and every possible art supply under the sun.
There’s something for everyone in the stacks at Jimbocho
Maybe my favorite shop in all of Jinbocho though, is Komiyama. Across about 5 floors, they have a massive selection of books, art, posters, collectibles, music, DVDs, magazines - just all kinds of amazing things, covering art, queer culture, movies, music and more. It’s a great spot to get lost for a while.
Also worth a special mention is stacks bookstore. This is one of the newer entrants, with a more independent spirit, in contrast to many of these bookstores that have been around for generations. They don’t do used books, but they do plenty of new, indie books and zines, plus clothes and homewares from independent designers. They’ve even got a craft beer fridge and a bar so that you can really settle in.
If you’ve been in Jimbocho for quite a while and need some food there are great spots for a meal or snack as well. This neighborhood is known for its western Japanese food (think things like omurice and curry), and its vintage, showa-era vibes. Saboru is one of the neighborhood favorites that’s been around for about 70 years, famed for its pizza toast. Sangatsu no Mizu was the 2024 winner of the neighborhood curry competition. And Kitchen Nankai serves a range of western Japanese food, with lines that start well before dinner time, so get there early or get ready to wait.
Shimokitazawa
Beth
On my recent trip to Japan I spent two weeks working remotely from Shimokitazawa. When looking for an area to base myself I saw a small cluster of places saved on my Google Map that were a mixture of great coffee, beer, vintage shopping, music bars and sensational eating. This could not be a more Beth coded suburb if I tried. It’s also an easy train to most of the hotspots. But with its neighbourhood vibe, walkable streets and excellent dog spotting, you’ll end up spending a good chunk of your time here.
Shimokitazawa is well known as a vintage shopping destination. Vintage shops are EVERYWHERE, and to be honest I found a lot of them quite samey after a while, as it’s mostly USA thrifted stuff (think college Tshirts, jackets and 90s style). But I found some excellent stuff at New York Joe and Big Time, and some really fun antique knick knacks at Antique Life Jin II and Tokyo Retro a.m.a store.
Browsing for vintage finds in Shimokitazawa
I’d regularly see musicians walking the streets clearly showing their musical genre by the way they dress. Neo rockabilly, grime, jazz and soul: it’s all here in Shimo. You can hear most of the bands from the streets so grab a beer from the konbini, walk around and duck into a bar where the music suits your tastes. For more established bands Shelter is an excellent live music venue with an eclectic line up, worth checking out. For something a little more low key, I overcame my fears of going to a bar alone by going to No Room for Squares, a cute speakeasy hidden behind a door that looks like a Coke fridge on the 4th floor of a pretty nondescript building. They have live music most nights, the staff are super friendly and make their very own gin which tasted like a delicious ouzo gin hybrid.
Naochyan Ramen is well worth the wait
For a different musical experience, head to one of the many record bars dotted around the neighbourhood. I had a great time at Little Soul Cafe with soul and R&B records lining every inch of wall space. It’s just one guy - both bartender and DJ - with a cheap and extensive spirits list. I sat at the bar, sipped on 12-year-old Dominican Republic rum, and listened to Smokey Robinson.
I ate at so many great restaurants here. Uoishin is a slightly more upmarket izakaya. They serve mostly sushi but don’t sleep on the fresh tofu dish and the grilled saba (we didn’t see it on the menu, just pointed at it when it came out). The chef there lived in New Zealand for a while and gave us his best “Suwetasu buro” (i.e Sweet as bro! Ha!!) as we paid the bill. I tried three times to get into Ubu, and when I finally got in it’s easy to understand why it’s loved by so many - a modern izakaya whose food feels both traditional and yet unlike any food I’ve ever had at an izakaya. The wasabi chicken salad was fresh, zesty and came with a wasabi kick that felt like I’d snorted fibreglass. If you can’t get in or if there’s a queue, then it’s likely worth it. That’s what I thought after passing Naochyan Ramen a few times and seeing the line outside. I went at around 6pm and it wasn’t too busy (it gets busy at lunch and after 8pm). There’s bar seating for about 10, and they were blasting The Beatles. They serve Chan style ramen (think thick soy sauce based soup and chewy noodles) and have free all-you-can-eat rice and pickles as well.
Lastly, I went down a rabbit hole and made the most amazing discovery about Shimokitazawa when I got obsessed with this one bar that I could see directly into from my apartment. Like something out of Rear Window, I would see little vignettes of life play out. As I was getting ready for work around 7am this bar would still be full, or sometimes the bartender was taking a nap (or at least I think it was that) before cleaning up. It being up on the 5th floor with very little online presence, it took me a while to even find the name of it. It is called Maruai (no google reviews!) and turns out it is part of this hospitality group called Nomouze (which translates to “Let’s Drink”). They do pop-up-bars, pro wrestling, and circus-themed karaoke. Minsky and I finally made it there on our last night in Tokyo, and in true Off The Eaten Track style, Minsky ended up befriending the owner of the whole group, who then took us on a bar crawl, which ended up with us singing Celine Dion on request. A literal mic drop on this neighbourhood I came to call home.
