With a kid it’s not that often I head out to places like Shimokitazawa, which is one of Tokyo’s lesser known places but well worth the visit if you’ve covered a lot of Tokyo and/or been and done that with the more popular parts like Shinjuku, Ginza, Shibuya or Harajuku.
To get to Shimokitazawa from Shinjuku, get on the Odakyu line and depending on whether you take the express or regular train, it’ll take about 10-15 minutes. Get off at Shimokitazawa Station and follow the people. I headed out there early to take some photos but nothing really opens until 11-11:30 so it’s pointless going earlier unless you want to have a walk around. Shimokitazawa has been described as a hipster, bohemian, cool kids hangout and apparently was voted most desirable place to live but some study of teenaged Japanese.
For kids, there’s not really much to do in Shimokitazawa, in fact, they’re probably going to very bored, very quickly because it’s basically full of trendy little cafes, restaurants, used clothing stores and independent fashion and retailers. There’s one Toy Shop with some vintage Star Wars and Superhero toys but other than that, there’s nothing here, at least that I found, for kids of any age. You come here for the food, or rather to eat in one of the hipster cafes or restaurants, and to shop for independent brands and used clothes.
If used clothes is not your thing (as it is not mine), think again, because like Cameras, and pretty much anything owned by the Japanese, they keep their personal belongings immaculate and in near perfect condition. The only two pieces of used clothing I’ve bought were from Japan. One a few years ago, and one, a Limited Edition Japanese Adidas T-Shirt here at Shimokitazawa. The used clothes shops here in Shimokitazawa are excellent, some of the clothes are near new and if you want something different than what you always get at the shopping malls, you’re going to be in luck. Make sure you have a good look around because there’s some real hidden gems. If you’re a big foreigner, you might find it a bit difficult to get something for obvious reasons.
Shimokitazawa is basically a small grid of shops and restaurants, parts of which cars aren’t allowed so walking around is relaxing and it’s a completely different vide and atmosphere than most of Tokyo’s busy and full-on neighbourhoods, at least the ones the guide books mention and what you’ll see on ShitAdvisor, I mean TripAdvisor. One famous and very very busy place is Flippers Pancakes. 20 minutes before opening this has a queue and 30 minutes after opening you’ll be waiting 30-60 minutes. Is it worth waiting, I don’t know but I wouldn’t wait 30-60 minutes for any food.
It’s small enough where I don’t need to mention any other places in particular because you spend a few hours here and cover the whole place. If you’re into art, cool little street scenes, trendy cafes, cute little independent retailers, Shimokitazawa will be right up your alley. Even the hairdressers have trendy store fronts, think Spiderman on a Vespa type thing. The shopping is very reasonable in terms of cost and there seems to be a good selection of vintage brand name and non-brand name stuff in the used clothing stores.
I probably spent 2-3 hours just walking around. If you’re into street photography, Shimokitazawa is definitely worth checking out. I can imagine this place would get very, very busy later afternoons and weekends, so going later morning when most things start to open is probably best. If you’re without kids, you could probably spend 4-5 hrs here quite easily, just shopping and eating. There’s also some music studios, live music places and well, pretty much anything hipster, you’re going to find here.
Thankfully, Shimokitazawa is still not that well known by the majority of tourists and to find out about it, you really have to be searching quite long and hard to get any mention of it. However, I’d say in a few years or less, once the Mainland Chinese and average tourists find out about it, it’s going to be absolutely packed and loose some of it’s charm. Not sure if this one of my favourite places in Tokyo but it’s high up on the list and definitely worth a visit if you’re in Tokyo for any amount of time. In the 10+ visits to Tokyo I haven’t seen anything like this.
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