Hidden Gems in Tokyo | Nishi Ogikubo 🇯🇵

Hidden Gems in Tokyo | Nishi Ogikubo 🇯🇵
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Welcome back to my channel! Today we're exploring a hidden gem in Tokyo.

Getting to Nishi Ogikubo is easy from Shinjuku. Just hop on the orange Chuo line heading to west Tokyo. It’s a station before Kichijoji.

Our first stop is Saten, a neighborhood cafe just a few minutes walk from the station. It’s quite popular on Google Maps for its matcha lattes and matcha desserts.

We ordered anko (sweet bean) butter toast to go with our drinks. Anko butter toast originated in Nagoya in the 1920s. Nowadays you’ll see it as a common fixture on cafe menus or kissaten around Japan. If you ask me, I’d say it’s the perfect balance of salty and sweet. The matcha latte was creamy and had just the right amount of creaminess to it.

Next we wanted to check out this lifestyle store on the way to lunch called Iwami Ginza Gongendo. Situated in a traditional Japanese home, you can sense the amount of care and detail that went into making this store. It sold several pieces for summer in some of the most luxurious feeling fabrics at reasonable prices. The store had a good mix of small trinkets too, so it’d be a great place to shop for souvenirs. We even walked away with scent matches.

Lunch was at a nearby shokudo or eatery that I hoped I could add to my teishoku roster. Spoiler alert: it didn’t disappoint. The meal was filling, hearty and everything I needed to get me through an afternoon of exploring the neighborhood. 10/10 would come back.

From there we walked down one of the main streets and came across even more cafes and antique shops in the area but what really caught my attention was this animal themed stationary store called Bunguten Tabby. I’m not into journaling or stationary whatsoever but I couldn’t resist picking up a whale shark designed coin pouch to take back home. Everything in the store was much cheaper than what you’d find at LoFT or Tokyu Hands. Not to mention you’re supporting a local business.

Just across from the stationary store was Brew Books. I didn’t spot any English titles among the books on the shelves, but if you’re looking to practice your Japanese reading skills, maybe it’d be worth checking out. The second floor has a co-working space you can rent by the hour or for the whole day if you need somewhere to get some work done.

On a hot summer’s day you can’t skip out on an ice cold dessert. So we walked over to Amaikko, a kakigori (shaved ice) store just a few minutes away. There were over 10 groups ahead of us but we figured that if other groups were willing to wait a while, it’s probably worth it. It goes without saying that this was one of the better kakigori I’ve had in a while. Shogo ordered the persimmon kakigori and I got the strawberry kakigori. The ice was fluffy, the strawberries were sweet and there was a more-than generous amount of condensed milk.

After cooling off at Amaikko, we decided to check out the other exit of Nishi Ogikubo station. Walking around the neighborhood, you can get a much better look at a slice of life in a Tokyo suburb.

Tifana is a chain of second hand clothing stores but it isn’t as ubiquitous as Treasure Factory or 2nd Street. Since they were on sale for summer I decided to check out their selection and while a few things caught my eye, the sizing was a tad too small. Price wise it wasn’t exactly cheap either but considering the condition of the clothes, I think it was well worth a look. Thrift shopping in smaller neighborhoods around Tokyo almost always guarantee a great find.

In front of Tifana was one of the many antique, second hand furniture stores in town. It seemed a bit more upscale compared to a regular recycle shop. The selection was a bit more eclectic with a wide array of designer accessories, bags, shoes mixed in among the western style furniture. I really felt like I was treasure hunting here.

Moving on to the last few stores we visited was another shop called FALL. It was along one of the main streets leading back to the station and personally I found it to be a great place to check out since it had a mix of hand made items with a few quirky accents you can add to your room or apartment. They had a small selection of tapes, too.

From FALL, we walked over to Ametsuchi, another store that had more of an animal (cat) theme going on. They sold brushes for cats and cat themed bags. The store manager was quite chatty with all the patrons and it made for a fun window shopping experience.

I hope you enjoyed this hidden gems in Tokyo series. If you did, please let me know, and I'll make more!

tags: #japantravel #tokyo #hiddengems

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