Shimokitazawa

Vintage shops, live music, and the best curry in Tokyo

Step out of the south exit and the city changes register completely: narrow winding lanes, second-hand clothing racks spilling onto the street, live houses that look untouched since the eighties. Daniel lived a short train ride away and spent more weekends here than anywhere else in Tokyo. It rewards wandering without a plan, but the places below are the ones worth coming back for.

Shimokita works best as an afternoon that turns into an evening. Arrive around three, when the vintage racks are out and the record shops are open, then let the lanes funnel you toward dinner. The neighbourhood was famously saved from a highway project by local protest, and the redevelopment that did happen (the low-rise Reload strip and the Bonus Track development along the old track bed) has been unusually careful, all small units rented to independent shops rather than chains.

The crowd is young and creative, designers and musicians and film students, and the neighbourhood calendar reflects it: a famous curry festival every October, live houses with something on nearly every night, and theatres like Honda Gekijo that anchor a serious fringe drama scene. Weekday mornings are the quiet hours. Saturday afternoon is the crush.