Walking Tokyo Series: Kichijoji Station to Nakano Station

Kichijoji Station to Nakano Station ?! Why?!@

Check out our first post to learn more about why we love to walk the cities we live in. We originally went out to Kichijoji to check out the Round 1 (because I love games) and decided to just walk home. I know, don’t ask – we make these kinds of decisions to just walk home a lot. 😀

Kichijōji Station to Nakano Station

Our Route

Statistics

• ~2 hours
• A little more than 5.5 miles
• This was an extremely flat route with everything to see centered around the stations. Every station has its own charm!
• We followed the train line so we passed the following stations: Kichijōji, Nishi-Ogikubo, Ogikubo, Asagaya, and Kōenji
• #FromPineapples difficulty: 🍍 (of 5)
• #FromPineapples things to see: 🍍🍍 (of 5) – (only around the stations).

Neighborhood Notes

• Kichijoji has a really large Round 1 where we played メダルゲーム (medal games, my personal fav). Not as good as the one in Odaiba, but I think it’s great for an area outside of central.
• Ogikubo is famous not only because it’s a ‘ramen battleground’, but is known specifically for Ogikubo Ramen – a Tokyo style ramen prepared from fish. I have a few places that I wanted to try on my Foursquare list, but we didn’t get to try any – specifically Harukiya. If you get out there and try some, let us know which ones!
• Even though the stations have its own charm, the paths between the stations are what I would describe as pretty boring (at night).  It might be different during the day, but I say this because if you’ve ever walked in a Japanese residential neighborhood away from a station and outside of central (and even some in central), you’ll know that Japanese neighborhoods are eerily quiet – I often wonder if people actually live in them. The ambiance is akin to a horror flick – right before the monster appears and devours you – so you generally walk quickly and quietly as to not disturb the peace.
• Originally home to Tokyo’s punk scene in the 70’s, Kōenji is famous for its vintage clothing shops. You’ll find a ton of them in the PAL shopping street and around the station.
• Also, while you’re in Koenji, if you like curry – make sure to check out the 100 Hour Curry B&R which won the Kanda Curry Grand Prix in 2016. It’s ticket machine so you’ll need very minimal Japanese to order and try some.