Shimokitazawa (West Tokyo)

Last Saturday (7 June) I went to Shimo-kitazawa, an area about 10 minutes by train on the Keio line from Shinjuku. I had wanted to go there for some time, after reading about how its unique character (small shops and boutiques) had been preserved, and decided to go there on the spur of the moment after noticing that it was easy to get to from the Chiyoda Metro line.

I had had lunch near Akasaka station and decided to head for Shimo Kitazawa, two stops beyond the terminus of the Chiyoda line, Yoyogi Uehara.

That said, there was no difficult transfer involved. Like some of the metro lines that continue on as regional trains or link to such trains at their terminus, I got off at the last stop and walked straight across the platform to catch the train continuing on to Shimo-Kitazawa.

The station itself is incredibly small. Considering the number of tourists who pass through the station on the weekend, it's quite amazing that they've left the station at its current size. Unless that is part of the effort to maintain the small-town character of the place.

It isn't really so much as stepping into a new town with a different character as it is stepping into a place like Harajuku, with its small boutiques (many of them selling used clothing; I bought a Japan national team T-shirt there, used, for 300 yen) targeting young consumers. I found myself thinking that I was walking through Harajuku judging from the people walking about (mostly in their 20s and 30s) and the types of stores lining the streets.

There is one interesting area right near the station, a market zone like what you might find in Ameyoko or under the tracks somewhere in Tokyo or Osaka. There, side-by-side, vendors sell dried beans or other legumes, others sell o-den, some sell fresh fruit and some stalls are just watering holes for locals (but look so interesting--next time will have to try). This I suppose it what the Shimo-Kitazawa must have been about when people first discovered it. Now, as I can find similar things in Harajuku, I wonder if it is worth going the extra few stops.

There is one odd thing en route to Shimo-kitazawa. Near the Yoyogi Uehara station, there is a giant mosque just like what I saw in Turkey, with its steepled pointed towards heavens. Odd to have found it here, but I guess that attests to the potential size of the Muslim community here in Tokyo ...