Shimokitazawa Audio Guide

Welcome to Shimokitazawa

Welcome to Shimokitazawa. Just a few minutes by train from Shinjuku or Shibuya, yet the moment you leave those busy terminals and step off here, your shoulders somehow relax. There are no towering buildings and no wide roads — only narrow lanes tangled like a maze, a town built to a small, human scale. This is the place everyone fondly calls Shimokita. Vintage clothing shops, tiny theaters, live-music venues, and passionate little cafes and curry shops crowd shoulder to shoulder along the alleys. Young musicians, actors, and lovers of secondhand fashion have gathered here and nurtured a free, experimental air. For Tokyoites, it is a neighbor town where you can simply be yourself, unlike trend-chasing Shibuya. For travelers, it is a chance to meet the true face of Tokyo, one step off the main street of the guidebooks. Over the next hour or so, let's trace the stories carved into this maze of a town. If a lane catches your eye, feel free to wander as you listen. Let's begin with how Shimokitazawa grew from a postwar black market into a town of youth culture — the history of Shimokitazawa.