Here is how to find the right place for you
Just like any old city finding its origins in the feudal era, Tokyo was built around a castle – the Edo castle. Today the Imperial Palace stands in its place and the Tokyo station nearby still is the central hub of transportation for local and nation-wide travels.
Over the centuries the city outgrowing itself at a formidable pace has developed multiple other ‘centers’. The Tokyo station is just your first point of entry on the downtown ring. Here’s how to orientate your search from there.
There is a Japan Railways line doing a loop in the central part of Tokyo called the Yamanote line. The neighborhoods on this line (and within the loop) are all considered downtown Tokyo. Keeping this loop in mind while looking where to live in Tokyo is a good baseline to find a relatively central location in the city.
There is a Japan Railways line doing a loop in the central part of Tokyo called the Yamanote line. The neighborhoods on this line (and within the loop) are all considered downtown Tokyo. Keeping this loop in mind while looking where to live in Tokyo is a good baseline to find a relatively central location in the city.
The Yamanote is also your best bet to move around Tokyo quickly and efficiently. Quickly because it connects six major connecting hubs: Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinagawa and Ueno stations. And efficiently because JR is very affordable. Traveling one station costs 133 yens using your IC card, traveling 10 stations (e.g. Tokyo station to Shibuya station) costs 194 yens. Navigating one of the six hubs will require discipline at first, but it will also allow you to get anywhere in Tokyo with one transfer making therefore a quick access to the Yamanote very valuable.
If you’re in Tokyo for a short while and want to be in the middle of the action, Shibuya and Shinjuku are good neighborhoods to spend a few days or weeks. They are two of the city’s beating hearts with tons of restaurants and shops, touristic attractions and a happening night life. And the convenient transport connections will be a big plus to move around Tokyo.
If you’re in Tokyo for a short while and want to be in the middle of the action, Shibuya and Shinjuku are good neighborhoods to spend a few days or weeks. They are two of the city’s beating hearts with tons of restaurants and shops, touristic attractions and a happening night life. And the convenient transport connections will be a big plus to move around Tokyo.
Roppongi, more central downtown, comes locking down the golden triangle of Tokyo’s nightlife. Slightly less of a touristic attraction than the other two by day, the neighborhood more than makes it up by night and is one of expats’ favorite neighborhoods to live and party. Connection-wise it has access to the Yamanote with one stop on the Hibiya line.
The city is a collection of neighborhoods entwined together, forming wards, part of a bigger whole called Tokyo. Neighborhoods have all distinctive vibes, and there is one bound to be made for you.
To you life is about style and skinny matcha latte’s, and you want a place matching your attitude?
You dare to stay where expats wouldn’t and try to assimilate with the locals?
To you, life is about style and skinny matcha latte’s, and you want a place matching your attitude?
Sophisticated boutiques and fashion houses meet idiosyncratic, brilliant and odd architecture. In Aoyama, you find designer labels in designer structures. Leave Omotesandō and engulf yourself in the backstreets to find a more intimate neighborhood home to a number of art spots, conceptual cafés and trendy bistros.
An abundance of quirky shops, open-air cafés and seductive pastry shops pave the (often pedestrian-only) streets of Daikanyama. This area’s equally relaxed, stylish and sophisticated vibe make it a suburban oasis that earned itself the nickname of Tokyo’s Little Brooklyn. Any day strolling in Daikanyama feels like a Sunday.
Artisanal coffee shops, stylish clothing boutiques and shops aimed exclusively at spoiled pets are legion here. But what makes Nakameguro one of Tokyo’s most popular residential neighborhoods is the beautiful scenery with its long lines of cherry blossoms on either side of the Nakameguro canal, which gives the neighborhood its laid-back vibe.
With its vintage clothing shops, hole-in-the-wall eateries and live music venues, Shimokita – for the locals – is Tokyo’s bohemian hub. Veer into some of the little laneways to get a sense of the bohemian vibe and laid-back atmosphere. You’ll find some of the coolest places – mostly small, retro and quaint boutiques, which is the essence of this entire neighborhood.
You can only be comfortable somewhere truly cosmopolitan?
Upscale and classy, yet quieter and more reserved than its cosmopolitan neighbors, Azabujūban blends new health food eateries, fitness, beauty and aesthetic salons with 100-year-old shops. The foreign embassies make it a preferential location for masses of foreign business people, yet in the cobbled stone paved streets reigns a village-like feel.
International supermarkets, Western food and clothing stores, and English-speaking services make Hiroo a ground zero for foreigners coming to Tokyo. The upmarket town is a favorite of expat families for the peaceful and quiet atmosphere, and the comfort and convenience of having everything at the tips of your fingertips.
Known for its international confection boutiques, enticing craft stores and trendy cozy cafes, Jiyūgaoka is a small village mixing narrow streets and pedestrian friendly avenues. From Parisian-style streetscapes with benches nestled under the trees to La Vita, a miniature version of Venice, the area exudes relaxed Sunday vibe.
You dare to stay where expats wouldn’t and try to assimilate with the locals?
Famous for its pleasant restaurants, small izakaya and tachinomi standing bars, Ebisu – or Yebisu, named after a popular beer brand that was originally brewed in the area – is a relaxed yet sophisticated neighborhood that has a more grown up ambiance. Perennial favorite for food-loving locals, the area really comes alive in the evening when salarymen gather up to release the pressure of a hard day’s work.
Home to wealthy and fashion-conscious housewives ironically called ‘Shiroganese’ (pronounced like it’s Italian), Shirokane is a posh residential area with plenty of beautiful parks and spaces. Although best characterized by its luxurious Platinium street – Shirokane literally meaning white gold – an authentic Shotengai market street still lives on.
