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| one of the vintage shops |
With its numerous cafes, fashion and music outlets, izakayas and business houses and the famous Honda gekijou building, shimo-kitazawa also know as shimokita is frequently packed with mostly young people, giving it its "若者の町/waka-mono no machi" (the young peoples town) reputation.
According to a recent survey, because of its cozy residential feel and uniqueness when young people were asked where they want to live, one of the top 3 answers is Shimo-Kitazawa.
Despite it being one of the most visited shopping districts in tokyo, shimo-kitazawa is also a quiet and cozy residential area. Even with its pulsing night life and izakayas this area is very quiet with most of the shops and businesses (except for the 6 convenient shops) opening up for the day well after lunch time through out the week.
Exploring this area on foot can be remarkable and relaxing, maybe even adventurous because the narrow alleys are inaccessible to vehicles. This gives you more time to browse through the stands that are placed in front of the shops without worrying about traffic. It is also very rare to see bicycles along these alleys most residents prefer to move around on foot thus the annoying bicycle bells you hear every where in Japan is limited only to the main street in shimo-kitazawa.
Most of the cafes and shops are located on the south exit however theres still a lot to see on the other side of the train station. Common shops and cafe names like village vanguard, segafredo, starbucks, claires can also be found within a 3 minute radius along the station.
However this epicenter of youth culture is in grave danger of slowly dying out when in 2004 the setagaya city council decided to include it in their re-development plans. Their main re-development plan for shimo-kitazawa features high rise buildings and a highway (extending route 54) passing through shimo-kitazawa to the other side of tokyo. This cause an outcry from the public, especially the residents and shop owners of shimo-kitazawa. Despite a peaceful protest from a few locally organized groups it is obvious that the setagaya city council didnt halt their re-development plans but try to mash up this trendy little neighborhood with a more upscale and developed neighborhood littered with expensive real estates. As a painful and constant reminder to the dwellers and visitors of shimo-kitazawa the construction is visible from the platforms.
For now shimo-kitazawa is still a trendy little neighborhood, with its narrow alleys bustling with vendors , tourists and locals. But in the next 4-10 years maybe its charm and casualness will die out along with its funky culture and vintage shopping.
