Shimokitazawa

Shimokitazawa is a few streets of two- and three-storey buildings around a station in western Tokyo, and its character is a function of scale: the lanes are too narrow for cars in most places, the rents were low enough for decades to support small businesses, and what accumulated was secondhand clothing shops, record shops, small theatres, live music venues, coffee and curry. From the 1990s the ward planned a wide road through the middle of it, and residents and businesses fought the scheme for around twenty years; when the Odakyu line was put underground in 2013 the freed-up land above was developed at low rise with parks and small units rather than towers, which is a better outcome than the neighbourhood expected. The theatre scene is real - several small houses run year-round and the Honda group of venues is a fixture of Tokyo's fringe.

What you actually see

• Secondhand depth - a concentration of vintage clothing and record shops.
• Small theatres and live houses - a working fringe scene rather than a legacy one.
• Low-rise redevelopment - the freed rail land built at small scale after a long campaign.
• Car-free lanes - streets too narrow for traffic through most of the district.

When to go

All year; afternoons and evenings when shops and venues are open. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Vintage prices have risen sharply and bargains are rarer than the reputation suggests. Shops open late, often after midday. Weekends are crowded. The station rebuild has changed the layout - old directions may not apply.

Nearby

Shibuya is east; Gotokuji is south-west.