Explore Tokyo's Hidden Gems: Koenji and Asagaya - The Ideal Neighborhoods for Family Travelers

1. Asagaya Pearl Center: Explore this bustling shopping arcade filled with shops, cafes, and eateries offering a variety of goods and local delicacies. 

Asagaya Pearl Center has been playing a central role in the community for more than 60 years. With its 700-meter long and elegant main street, which resembles a pearl necklace on maps, this shotengai is studded with history, charm and community spirit.

2. Asagaya Tanabata Festival: Experience one of Tokyo's most famous summer festivals, where colorful decorations adorn the streets and traditional performances entertain visitors. 

Asagaya has been holding its own distinctive Tanabata festival for over 60 years now, but the event has moved with the times. In recent years, the papier-mâché decorations dangling from the ceiling of the Pearl Center shopping arcade have included iconic characters like Jack Sparrow and Buzz Lightyear. The decorations are there all day long, but many people wait until dusk to go and enjoy them. That's when the shopping street comes alive with a host of food and drink stalls offering Japanese festive fare.

3. Asagaya Star Road: A few seconds walk from JR Asagaya visitors will stumble across Star Road, a maze of small bars and cafes which has been serving the good folk of Asagaya for decades.

Affordable and lively, Star Road offers something different than your run-of-the-mill izakaya experience in places like Shinjuku or Shibuya. An authentic shitamachi experience that you will never forget, Star Road has been entertaining locals and for decades now and will continue to do so. There's so much going on in this area with a huge array of izakaya and cafes that you are sure to find your ideal spot that you will, no doubt, keep returning to over and over again.

4. Asagaya Jazz Streets: Enjoy live jazz performances at the numerous jazz bars and clubs scattered throughout Asagaya, known for its thriving jazz scene.

During this fall weekend jazz event, you can enjoy jazz at many places in Asagaya, such as at public places, variety halls, cafes, restaurants or live music venues. One of the unique venues is Shinmeigu Shrine in Asagaya. You have to pay for concerts held indoors at public places, but outdoor concerts and other live spaces are all admission free. Various levels of professional bands and international musicians from abroad usually perform.

The Asagaya Jazz Streets Event will be held on the final Friday and Saturday of October.

1. Koenji Awa Odori Festival: Witness the exhilarating Awa Odori dance festival held annually in August, where thousands of dancers take to the streets in colorful costumes, accompanied by traditional music.

If you're in Tokyo at the end of August, make sure you save some time to see the Koenji Awa-Odori. Over 12,000 dancers in 180 groups perform in the streets of Koenji and more than a million revellers gather over the weekend to join in the party, usually from 5pm to 8pm.

2. Koenji Temple District: Discover the serene atmosphere of Koenji's temple district, home to several historic Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines nestled among residential streets.

In the Suginami Ward of Tokyo alone there are located over 100 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, however they are quite scattered about the area. One nice thing about the temples area in southern Koenji is that many temples are clustered in one small area, so even though many areas of Koenji are well known for their subculture and counterculture, the temples area of Koenji is a great place to escape the modern bustle of Tokyo.

3. Koenji Vintage Shops: Browse through the eclectic collection of vintage clothing stores, antique shops, and thrift stores that line the streets of Koenji, perfect for unique finds and retro treasures.

Koenji, the hippest town on the Chuo Line, is filled with young people and artists sporting not the most recent trends but the fashions of yesteryear.
Thrift shops and consignment stores are commonplace all over Tokyo but Koenji gives them an original twist.

4. Koenji Underground Live Houses: Immerse yourself in Tokyo's underground music scene at the numerous live houses and small music venues scattered throughout Koenji, showcasing a variety of genres from punk rock to experimental electronic music.

Koenji has a long history as one of Tokyo’s focal points for punk, psychedelic and otherwise odd rock. Live venues in Koenji come in all shapes and sizes, from the (relatively) upscale Koenji High, where (relatively) famous bands are known to play a show or two, to Enban, a record store/live house that could cram in about ten people if it really tried.