Koenji is a hipster neighbourhood only 15 minutes or so away from Shinjuku, and yet it’s still not too touristy, making it a perfect place to walk and explore on a lazy evening.
I highlighted some shops in Koenji part 1 post, so for this second part, expect street view and shop fronts and just random awesomeness. Let’s start…
This post will be photo heavy, so be prepared. It’s pretty though, if you like photographs of shop fronts and hipster cool stuff. So, let’s go through some of them.
One thing I noticed about Koenji is that they have plenty of cool looking buildings and architecture, and many of them are occupied by fancy hair salons. Maybe I should get my hair dyed here one day…
Apart from hairdressers and hipster salons, there are plenty of hole-in-the-wall restaurants that are so quintessentially Japanese. I obviously got so intrigued and took heaps of photos of restaurant staff working and doing their thing.
Oh and, on a totally unrelated note, this has to be the coolest artisan bread shop ever. They only sell plain loaves of bread, I think…
We walked to other areas with lesser people too and found an abandoned building and random signs, like this “Hasta Manana” (see you later in Spanish) handmade sign with colourful balloons hanging.
I seriously have a thing for abandoned buildings. I’d totally be an urban explorer if I’m not a scaredy cat. But yeah, I don’t like bugs or ghost stories, which makes it a little tougher.
Anyways, there are so many little corners and streets to explore in Koenji, I love just walking randomly and finding something omoshiroi.
Whatever obsession I have with cool shop fronts, I get my fix in Koenji. I mean, check these out!
They’ve got all things covered, from traditional to modern, classy to trashy, and everything in between. And some nice murals too.
Also, there are plenty of interesting store names… I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Yep, there were more than 1 Slut in Koenji. Anyways, moving on… I saw some really pretty shops that make me want to live in there…
During dinner time, we walked past some local eateries with milk crates as tables and chairs (typical hipster stuff) set up outside the shops, and just enough locals enjoying their dinner. Super cool!
After dinner, we walked a bit more and just soaked ourselves in the atmosphere. Koenji really was pretty quiet that Sunday night, not sure if that was the norm or just an anomaly.
And of course, hipster neighbourhoods won’t be complete without hipster clothing shops and vintage finds!
Here are my thoughts, for all you travellers reading this, whether it is worth it to travel to Koenji if you only have a few days in Tokyo. The answer is probably no, unless you really like hipster places (if you’re a Melburnian, I guess this is a given).
But if you’ve been to Tokyo a few times and want to have a taste of something different, something a little off-the-beaten-path, then definitely check Koenji out! I will be back again, for sure.
You can visit Koenji together with a trip to the vintage geek paradise Nakano and the hipster & happening Kichijoji. They’re definitely worth spending a day exploring if you have more than a week in Tokyo. May the hipsters be with you…