This Setagaya Neighborhood
A lot of ex-pats keep blogs chronicling the daily or weekly events of their lives abroad. And most have the Hey everyone, this is my neighborhood! post.
Last year, I wrote a post about how my neighborhood (was living in Shibuya then) was a pretty good representation of how ugly some Tokyo neighborhoods really are, despite being fairly affluent.
This year is different. I really like my new neighborhood and find it very attractive.
In my little Setagaya town, just minutes from Shimokitazawa, there are several really cool neighborhood shops. The flower shop above has to be one of the coolest local flower shops ever.
Most ex-pats who’ve lived in Tokyo for awhile are familiar with Kaldi Coffee Farm, a great place to buy gourmet coffee beans as well as foods from abroad. My Aussie buddies like being able to get Vegemite there. Me, I like being able to get pepper jack cheese. The shop above is literally 30 seconds from my front door.
There are a few hippy-dippy, quirky shops in my Setagaya town. In Ibaraki, they have monkey waiters at one izakaya. In my town, they have a tiger as a storefront guardian.
There’s always a line-up at Midori Zushi, a very famous place in Tokyo known for it’s high-quality sushi at working-man’s prices.
For me, one of life’s best simple pleasures is relaxing in a favorite neighborhood coffee shop. Setagaya Coffee Shop has excellent coffee and cake, which I have pretty much every Sunday. I love routines.
The scene above always greets me when I’m just around the corner from my apartment.
Some stations are super busy, but really tiny. My neighborhood station is three minutes away from my front door, quite large, and rarely busy. It even has waiting rooms! I know they’re heated, but I’ve yet to find out if they’re air conditioned.
Even the local 7-11 has a bit of charm, with flowers decorating the front.
If you’ve read this far, thank you for tolerating my self-indulgence. I hope you like the town you live in as much as I like mine.
An American living in Tokyo. Can be seen bounding through Shinjuku Station most mornings, teeth gnashing, eyes bulging, a cup of cheap coffee clenched in one fist and a satchel in the other. God help those who don't see him coming.
April 11th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Oh yeah, there’s one of those coffee farms at one of the malls a couple towns over.
Looks like a peaceful little neighborhood.
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April 11th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I’d like to crawl into that jungle infront of the shower shop and burn a blunt.
That’s the 1st thing that came to my mind.
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April 11th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I meant to say Flower which is ironic since it was followed by talk of burning a blunt. My miss may be a sign of of my “over blunt burning” in the way back….o.k. not so way back .
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April 11th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
@Blue Shoe:
Damn, man. Guess you really do live out in the boonies. Couple of towns over? Haha.
@Chris B:
I think the shop keeper would be hosting the burning session. Dude’s probably in the middle of one right now.
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April 11th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I walked through Setagaya-ku once and it seemed like a nice area. I went to both the original ManekiNeko temple and a place called The Crumpets Cafe, which serves British food. Probably not as life-affirming if you’re American though.
I like Kaldi’s too, but I think the best thing about it is the free coffee!
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April 11th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
I enjoy these “here is my neighborhood” posts. Your neighborhood is one of the more interesting I have seen.
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April 12th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Hello Billy, I was recahed to your blog through “Blue Shoes” blog. I’d like to put some comments. It’s fun to know how non-Japanese live in Japan. The cake you posted on this page looks so oishi-so… It’s one of my things-to-do list that I go to a nice cafe and have some drink with cake in Japan. It’s fun to explore and discover nice cafes in my neighborhood.
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April 13th, 2010 at 12:07 am
@William:
If that place serves mashed potatoes, I’m there.
@Tornadoes:
Thank you very much. If you’re ever around, Midori Zushi is a must. I’d definitely join if asked
@TTH:
Yeah, finding good coffee shops is a favorite pastime of mine. Starting a blog about it:
http://coffeetokyo.com
Thanks.
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April 13th, 2010 at 11:40 am
@Billy - No, no - there is a mall in my town, but it doesn’t have one of those stores. I’m not very far from Osaka, so not too inaka.
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