Tokyo Metropole & Greater Kanto · Tokyo, West

Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji and Shimokitazawa: the calm west side

Morning at Miyazaki's museum (a ticket you buy a month in advance), a park with swan boats, an alley of eateries from the black market days, and in the afternoon the vintage and curry neighborhood most loved by young Tokyo.

A day in west Tokyo, at a slow pace. You start in the morning at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, walk through Inokashira Park to Kichijoji and eat lunch near Harmonica Yokocho. In the afternoon you ride 13 minutes on the Inokashira Line to Shimokitazawa, for the vintage shops, Bonus Track and the small theaters, and in the evening for curry and bars. As far as Kichijoji you walk, about 1.6 km through the park, and in Shimokitazawa every stop is at most a 7-minute walk from the one before.

Verified online, September 20268 stops · 10:00 to 21:00¥10,000 · ≈ $63 per personWalking between stops: 57 min · Transport: ¥210Good with kidsVintageGhibli ticket a month in advance

The day on a map

8 stops, in order

Stops: 8
Walking minutes: 51

Stop number on the timelineWalkingTrain, metro or busBase map: © OpenStreetMap

Open this day in Google Maps

The same stops with the same numbers, and the way from stop to stop. On a phone it opens in the app, and that is what you navigate with in Japan. Pin names on the map are in Hebrew.

Getting there: Start at Mitaka Station. From Shinjuku Station: the JR Chuo Line, the rapid train, to Mitaka, 18 minutes, ¥260. From the South Exit a yellow community bus leaves for the museum every 15 minutes (¥230), or walk 15 minutes along the river. No museum ticket: start in Kichijoji.

10:0012:00
Stop 1MuseumMust
Ghibli Museum: the Catbus and the Laputa robot on the roof
You start at Miyazaki's museum. No tickets at the door, at all: tickets (¥1,000 per adult) go on sale at Lawson Ticket on the 10th of every month at 10:00 Japan time, for the following month, and sell out within hours. Outside Japan you buy through authorized agents. No photography inside. The 'Saturn' theater shows a short film you will not see anywhere else, the Catbus waits for children up to age 12, and the Laputa robot stands on the roof. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. From the November 2026 tickets on, the ticket is a QR code and carries a ¥110 system fee.
¥1,000 · ≈ $6Dated and timed ticket, sold on the 10th of the month for the following monthOpen in Maps About this place
Walk to the lake
- Walk · 15 minThe museum is at the western end of the park. Carry on along the paths between the trees, about a kilometer, to the lake and the boat pier.
12:1513:15
Stop 2ParkRecommended
Inokashira Park: swan boats and a lake
The park where Miyazaki used to walk: a lake, rowboats (¥800 for 30 minutes) and swan boats (¥1,000) and a Benten shrine. According to legend, couples who row together break up, so you row with the kids. On weekends artists and musicians perform along the path. From the east end of the lake the park leads straight to Kichijoji.
¥800 · ≈ $5Open in Maps About this place
Up to lunch in Kichijoji
- Walk · 10 minFrom the pier walk up Nanai-bashi-dori to the station's South Exit, go through the station and come out on the north side, opposite Harmonica Yokocho. About 650 meters.
13:2514:15
Stop 3LunchRecommended
Lunch break in Kichijoji
Kichijoji's vibe is calm. Opposite the station's North Exit stands Harmonica Yokocho, a former black market that became alleys of tiny eateries, and at its entrance is the butcher shop with the line. On the way from the park you pass two more options. Choose:
- Satou, menchi-katsu¥350 per cutlet
  A butcher shop that sells fried meat cutlets (menchi-katsu), with a constant 20-minute line, and you eat standing. The cutlets are sold from 10:30. At the entrance to the alleys of Harmonica Yokocho.
- Iseya, the main branch
  A yakitori house founded in 1928, 5 minutes on foot from the station, on the way to the park. Open 12:00 to 22:00, and closed on Tuesdays.
- Sunday VeganVegan, not kosher
  A vegan bakery, with no animal ingredients at all: donuts and pastries, near the park, on the south side of the station. Open 08:00 to 17:00, and closes on irregular days.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥1,200 · ≈ $8Open in Maps About this place
Ride to Shimokitazawa
- Train · 20 min · ¥210Keio Inokashira Line from Kichijoji to Shimokitazawa, on the express (kyuko), four stations, 13 minutes. From Harmonica Yokocho cross through the station to the Inokashira Line platform, and in Shimokitazawa the first shops are minutes from the exit.
14:4516:30
Stop 4VintageMust
Shimokitazawa: Flamingo and New York Joe
Secondhand clothing shops a short walk from one another: Flamingo (mostly from the US and Europe, and the company runs four more shops in the neighborhood), New York Joe Exchange (on the site of a former public bathhouse, every item up to ¥10,890), and Trefac Style (American vintage and labels, from ¥550).
¥3,000 · ≈ $19Open in Maps
16:3018:00
Break
A rest at the hotel, if you are staying in Shibuya or Shinjuku
The day starts at 10:00 and ends at 21:00, and the evening still holds curry and bars. If you are staying in Shibuya, go back now on the Inokashira Line, on the express with no stops on the way, 4 minutes, ¥140. If you are staying in Shinjuku, go back on the Odakyu Line, 7 to 11 minutes depending on the type of train, ¥170. At 18:00 come back to Shimokitazawa, straight to dinner. If you are staying in the east of the city, do not go back: to Asakusa, for example, it is a ride of about 45 minutes with a change in Shibuya (¥400), so most of the break goes on the journey. Your rest is the next stop, the courtyard and cafe of Bonus Track, and after it the small theaters.
Walk to Bonus Track
- Walk · 7 minGo to the southwest side of the station and walk along the route of the railway that went underground, about 500 meters, to the complex.
16:3517:10
Stop 5BreakIf there is time
Bonus Track: a mini street of independent shops and coffee
If you did not go back to the hotel, rest here. A small complex on the land freed when the Odakyu line went underground, with a bookshop that serves beer, a diary shop, a reading cafe, and pastries flavored with tea and spices.
¥700 · ≈ $4Open in Maps About this place
Back to the theaters
- Walk · 7 minWalk back along the route to the station and continue to its east side, to Honda Gekijo. About 550 meters.
17:1517:55
Stop 6CultureIf there is time
Small theaters and music clubs: Honda Gekijo
Shimokitazawa is Tokyo's town of small theaters and live houses. Most plays are in Japanese, but the evening music shows (Shelter, Basement Bar), at ¥2,000 to ¥3,000, work in any language. Check the program at the station.
FreeOpen in Maps
Up to dinner
- Walk · 7 minCross the station area to the north, to Ichibangai and the alleys around it. About 550 meters. If you are coming back from the hotel, leave by the North Exit, and it is the same distance from there.
18:0019:30
Stop 7DinnerRecommended
Dinner in Shimokitazawa
The neighborhood is known as Tokyo's curry capital, and in October it even has a curry festival. Three options, in three styles of curry:
- Rojiura Curry Samurai¥1,500 to ¥2,000
  Hokkaido-style soup curry, and the signature dish is chicken with 20 vegetables. Dinner from 17:30. No credit cards: pay in cash or with PayPay. In the north of the neighborhood, near Ichibangai.
- Pannya (般゜若)
  Japanese-Indian curry in an alley near the station, 2 minutes from the Inokashira Line's East Exit. The signature dish is katsu curry in a black coating, made from breadcrumbs with squid ink. Dinner only Thursday to Sunday, 17:30 to 22:00. On Monday and Tuesday lunch only, and closed on Wednesday. Cash only.
- Kyu Yamu Tei Shimokita-so¥1,450
  Osaka-style spice curry, 5 minutes on foot from the station toward Daizawa. The curry of the month is ¥1,450. Dinner on weekdays 18:00 to 21:00, and on weekends from 17:30. Closed on Tuesdays.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥1,800 · ≈ $11Open in Maps
Out to the bars
- Walk · 5 minHead back to Ichibangai, the street that runs north from the station's North Exit, and go into the alleys around it.
19:4521:00
Stop 8NightIf there is time
Bars in Shimokitazawa: from a jazz bar to a basement izakaya
You finish on Ichibangai and in the alleys around it: small bars, a record bar, student izakaya. Cheaper than Shibuya and without tourists. From here head back on the Odakyu Line to Shinjuku (7 to 11 minutes, ¥170) or on the Inokashira Line to Shibuya (4 minutes on the express, ¥140).
¥1,500 · ≈ $10Open in Maps

Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji and Shimokitazawa: the calm west side

8 stops, in order

Ghibli Museum: the Catbus and the Laputa robot on the roof

Inokashira Park: swan boats and a lake

Lunch break in Kichijoji

Shimokitazawa: Flamingo and New York Joe

A rest at the hotel, if you are staying in Shibuya or Shinjuku

Bonus Track: a mini street of independent shops and coffee

Small theaters and music clubs: Honda Gekijo

Dinner in Shimokitazawa

Bars in Shimokitazawa: from a jazz bar to a basement izakaya

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