I just don’t get it anymore.
Arrived here around 2007, I ended up directly living in Shimokitazawa, the “coolest neighborhood” of Tokyo. At that time, the town was already starting to fall apart and the small street performers or other small street vendors were almost all long gone (according to the local old timers).
What was left was a tiny train station and more second hand clothing stores, hair stylists and eyewear shops than in the rest of Tokyo.
My point is that 下北沢 is now living on its own legend rather than on its innovations or anything it has and that – for instance – daikanyama, sangenjaya or shibuya would not have.
The recent development is pretty cool though, a nice new station is always welcome.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice little town, but IMO, the hype is no longer deserved.
Edit: Please stop writing “gentrification”.
33 comments
Wait you’re not saying that after 16 years of living there the bloom is off the rose are you?
It’s a different kind of hype I feel, for the rich but more low key people who don’t want to live in shibuya, since it’s getting more crowded and urbanized.
Lots more houses than apartments in shimokita
What’s the point you want to bring up? That internet and people like hyping up places and then they dissapoint? this is not new.
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You need to go to Shimokitazawa for an hour to learn that the hype is just hype.
Unless you are a ….” x ” who likes buying second hand clothes, and eating overexpensive avocado sandosIf you ask me, Koenji is 100 better than Shimo.
Most ‘hip’ areas in Tokyo either suffer from that and/or are mere shadows of their former selves. Shimokitazawa, Daikanyama and Harajuku for sure.
I think Nakameguro is an exception though, it now actually more or less lives up to its reputation, but was similarly overrated about 10 years ago.
The major development they did there around 10? years ago completely ripped the soul out of Shimokitazawa.
Kichijoji is also slowly gentrifying. Almost all the bars and restaurants used to be owned by individuals. Now, even the cool-looking bars are actually owned by large companies like Monteroza.
The “cool” places in any city are always a little on the fringes. Now, you should check out places like Nishi Ogikubo or even further out places like Kokubunji.
Came here in 2015.
I’m really into second hand clothes and stuff like that. Basically the description of shimokitazawa is what I like.
Went there… so overhyped and overpriced it’s ridiculous.
Expensive and just not the genuine vibe I was hoping for.
Probably was really dope back in the day but I wouldn’t know.
Can’t this be said about most areas of Tokyo? And Japan in general? In fact, most places around the world? Areas change dude, especially over 15 years.
I remember thinking Shimokita was really cool back in 2014-2016 or so. Last time I went there it did look a lot more developed. I think it’s a nice place to hang out during the weekdays with friends. Some nice bars, restaurants, etc. Lots of nice little concerts if you wanna check out local bands. It’s definitely gotten more expensive though. I think it’s a fun place to hangout as a teenager or in your early/mid 20s. Otherwise, there are better options out there nowadays.
It’s been gentrified, along with a few other “hip” areas in Tokyo.
You need to head to some of the grittier underground joints, like Kasukabe in Saitama.
I love Shimokitazawa. The new developments are meh, but the core of what has made the town special since the 90s—its free and welcoming subculture of essentially infinite talent that can be found in the local livehouses, theatres, DJ bars and other creative spaces—is still alive and well.
I go to the livehouses all the time, because they feel like a welcome respite from mainstream Japanese society. They are places where artists and art-lovers gather, where individuality is respected, and where you can have some of the best musical experiences of your life. I just wrote [a guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/14sum76/how_to_access_live_music_in_japan_and_why_it/) on r/JapanTravel about how to get into them.
In breaking news nothing is like it was when I was young.
There used to be a Family Mart just under the train bridge and where the new station is. We used to drink outside the convenience store and wave at the people looking down at us in the train. aha. I guess they have a new craft beer pub there that I haven’t been to yet. My girlfriend worked at a used American clothing shop there called Blue Note. I don’t think it’s there anyore.
That’s the whole of japan tbh. People back home still think of japan in that bubble period 30 odd years ago. Whenever I go back home I still get people like:
Cousin: “oh man it must be so awesome to live in Japan”
Me: “ it is. You should come visit sometime”
Cousin: “defo! It must be like living in the future there with all the advanced tech. They’re like 20 years ahead. What phones do they use? I bet they have things light years ahead of the iPhone”
Me: “a bit, although I actually had to fax a document last week”
Cousin: “Fax? FAX?? oh man! You see, we haven’t even got that here yet. Sounds so cool”
Me: “yeah bro!”
Isn’t that pretty standard for “hip” neighborhoods everywhere?
Let’s not act as if the large influx of wealthy Western residents also did not knock out a lot of the vibes of older Shimokitazawa.
I think it got popularized because of the drama Shimokita GLORY DAYS and it stuck that way.
Harajuku and Yoyogi Park went through the same thing; pre 2010 they were hotspots for street performers, colorful folks and a litany of sights to see. Nowadays, Yoyogi is a shell of its former self, and Harajuku is just a glorified Forever 21.
Nowadays the only place that’s actually cool is Koenji, but they also have a long history of resisting gentrification.
I thought shimokita was still pretty dope in 2017. Big fan of thrift stores and the general vibe. There was a pretty good soup curry place, horse meat place and even a poutine shop.
Trendy places change over time.
It’s like facebook. It was trendy, then more and more people joined it and it was so yesterdays news. Shimo was underground, then trendy, then commercialized. Like akihabara, shibuya and all those other places. There’s still ghosts of the past around in these places. Old underground live houses and the like. But they’ve all been redeveloped massively by monied interests trying to cash in on the hype, and they always will be.
the live music scene is what really draws me to shimokitazawa, shibuya has nice venues but the atmosphere isn’t quite the same
So you’re saying that something that was once potentially cool got massively overexposed and overhyped, and then became gentrified? I’m shocked.
Overpriced second hand stores and wanky organic craft beer. It doesn’t feel substantially different from any other “cool” part of Tokyo to me.
ok thanks for the update.
I went for the first time earlier this year and I really enjoyed it. It was the right amount of busy but not overwhelmingly packed, and modern mixed with “vintage”. I love secondhand shopping and though things are overpriced, that’s super normal for Japan and I still found a lot of great stuff. There were a lot of good, conveniently located restaurants as well.
Anyway, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
When I go there it seems quite cool, but it’s quite far and I’m just not going to spend time digging around there. I didn’t see why it has such a reputation either, but it is nice for a walkabout.
Generally though I think you’re describing gentrification. I’m worried it’ll only get worse from here with less youngsters around. I love Tokyo for a few reasons but youth culture isn’t one of them. I’ve generally lived around North Tokyo (Toshima-ku, Kita-ku, Itasbashi-ku), and there can be pockets of excitement, but they’re generally quite dull. At times, these kinds of areas feel like either retirement communities or commuter suburbs.
To be fair, I don’t know that it hasn’t always been like this, but some of the places I knew as kinda hip ten years ago seem pretty bland now.
I guess that it’s similar all over though, the independents will get bought out when the place becomes famous.
I LOVED the old station.
It was really old and ratty but it had so much character.
Every time I arrived at it I was filled with a feeling of excitement and I knew I was going to have a great night out.
But the new station is just meh…. Feels very “corporate” to me and really detracts from the Shimo vibes that it used to have.
That’s just my opinion though.
Do you agree with my comment above?
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Trendy places become unaffordable to “bohemian” artsy-dartsy young people, so they move to cheaper places to unintentionally make a new trendy place until developers make it unaffordable.
I like how Shitamachi areas are getting to be the place for youth, but still not there yet.
In Yamanote area maybe Koenji is still quite underground and cool tho.
I laugh every time I read an article from time out Tokyo or one of those other travel blogs posting about how great shimokita is. Especially when they mention shops and start off with “this Tokyo outpost of a (insert American city name here) chain is the first in Japan” and then list four more American chains that also recently opened. That alone makes me not want to go there anymore. Why the fuck would you travel to Japan to go to some American chain restaurant? Shimkoita used to be cool, but I’ll stick to koenji, nakameguro, or even sangenjaya (which is much grittier and cooler) from now on, thank you very much.
See, your mistake is ever being aware of marketing.
It’s probably something to do with wabisabi.
Such is the impermanence of this floating world.
Gentrification…?
reading your post and the comments, i’ve noticed sentiments like this floating around for awhile now, that a lot of the soul and character of these towns in tokyo are long dead, so WHERE IS cool now? where do locals hang out? what’s the new akiba/harajuku/shin okubo/etc? I can’t really find anywhere worth hanging out and window shopping anymore so I end up just floating around ikebukuro and takadanobaba for some reason but they’ve both grown stale. the only area that feels really nice to just chill is odaiba and at the end of the day it’s just 2 malls…
> Edit: Please stop writing “gentrification”.
But it’s the poster child of gentrification in Tokyo. Cool bohemian neighborhood gets turned into a rich family suburb.
To be fair it is a super nice neighborhood nowadays, regardless of its past / present reputation. The crowds in the weekend are annoying, but that’s quite common in Tokyo.
I’ve lived in Shimokitazawa off and on since 1987. I lived right in Ichibangai for a few years in the 90s. Great times. I miss the Rock n Roll Diner and drinking with the random crowds at the south exit on Saturday nights.
But as much as it’s changed it still has the same vibe as always. I heard Jazz Masako is back too but haven’t been there in ages.