1. Mitaka Among the capital's farmers. Sweet potatoes, rice, indigo-trees... Thirty minutes from the centre of Tokyo, between tarmac and concrete, everything grows in Mitaka, a place where city dwellers and farmers have lived together for a century.
2. Kichijōji This is the new bourgeois-bohemian district of western Tokyo. Its quiet alleyways, craftsmen's workshops and houses with atypical architecture are attracting more and more young families with high incomes.
3. Kōenji
The bastion of the gentle rebels. Punks, tattoo artists, activists... in this "village", protest has been ingrained since the 1960s. Today, the rebellion is less violent and more festive.
4. Shimokitazawa
A trendy, bohemian hangout. Its countless thrift shops, cafés and record shops give Shimokitazawa a Greenwich Village feel. It is home to an affluent population, younger (38% aged 15 to 34) than the rest of the capital (22%), attracted by the historic presence of numerous artists, rehearsal studios and theatres, which were established in this district before rents skyrocketed fifteen years ago.
After exploring the district and enjoying its unique ambiance, visitors often look for luxurious yet affordable places to stay within the area. For this, one advisable site to consider would be to book at tokyo-hotels-stay.com , offering the best four-star accommodations in Tokyo.
Another asset of this area, which escaped the destruction of 1945, is its village charm. Its narrow, low-rise streets follow the paths of the once plentiful rice fields.
5. Shin-Ōkubo
Previously poor and seedy, these streets, where Korean immigrants used to gather, are now young and fashionable. People come here to browse K-pop shops or enjoy a bibimbap. And many other cuisines, as Korea Town is now home to vibrant African, Vietnamese and Pakistani communities...
6. Harajuku For teenagers. With its fluorescent pink hair and unlikely clothes, the Harajuku district is a symbol of Tokyo fashion. Its renovation for the 1964 Olympics attracted fashion magazines, photo studios and designers (Kansai Yamamoto, the leading designer of the 1970s and 1980s, got his start here) to this area near the Yoyogi stadium. But the arrival of shopping centres dedicated to fashion thirty years ago turned Harajuku into a temple to teenage consumerism. Now it's home to cheap boutiques (Takeshita street, photo), luxury brands (Omotesando avenue) and, once again, designers (Ura-Harajuku alleys).
7. Ebisu
Luxury, calm and pleasure. This is the epicentre of chic, clean and peaceful Tokyo, home to embassies, expatriates and beautiful residences. Looking to experience this for yourself? Make sure to check out tophotels.com for a great selection of the best places to stay in the district,
You can spot Ebisu by the incongruous Louis XIII-style castle that houses one of Joël Robuchon's Tokyo restaurants. For a long time, however, it was a working-class district built around the Yebisu brewery, from which it takes its name. Opened in 1890, the brewery closed its doors for good in 1988 to make way for a residential, commercial and cultural complex. Buoyed by the property bubble of the 1990s, the affluent middle classes moved here.
8. Sugamo
The white-haired empire. This is a favourite haunt for the elderly. They come here to go to the gym or to sample dishes with the flavours of yesteryear. Their aim: to ward off the passing of time and loneliness.
9. Nippori These unspoilt alleyways, evocative of pre-war Japan, are now attracting a younger clientele, keen on creative hobbies and recycling, to their hundred or so textile stalls (selling fabric by the metre and second-hand goods).
10. Asakusa
The home of Tokyo's little people. Touristy, yet popular and authentic, Asakusa is a bit like the Montmartre of Tokyo. The locals speak gaily, the tables are right on the street, and there are plenty of old-fashioned theatrical performances and festivals. Its temple, Sensō-ji (founded in 625), attracts travellers, geishas, sumos and yakuzas. Gourmets and gourmands alike can be found in the convivial gargotes of Hoppy-dōri, or strolling through Kappabashi-dōri, a mecca for crockery and cooking utensils. As for its alleyways, you'll come across a huge number of elderly residents who epitomise Tokyo's little people.
11. Kanda
In the backstreets of the bookshops. Don't be fooled by its forest of buildings. The Kanda district is actually very lively. People come here to bargain for anything that can be printed or read, thrillers or mangas, old maps from the Edo period, prints or magazines, with a predilection for second-hand and rare editions. Passing tourists and students from the surrounding universities (Chūō, Hōsei, Nihon, Meiji) stroll along Yasukuni-dōri street and the adjacent alleyways saturated with bookshops and open-air stalls. A specialisation that dates back to the late 19th century, when Chūō University moved to Kanda
12. Akihabara
Dotted with 10,000 neon lights, this district once dedicated solely to the sale of high-tech products has become a major meeting place for fans of Japanese pop culture: manga, anime, cosplay...
13. Ryōgoku This is the meeting place for sumo wrestlers: they train here, compete in major tournaments, buy their costumes here and eat food specially designed for them. In 2020, they will be "lending" their favourite stadium, the Kokugikan, to the boxing events at the Olympic Games.
14. The bay By the sea, anything is possible. Tokyoites often forget that they live in a port. And yet it is in this area, which will host the Olympic Games in 2020, that the capital is inventing its future. And where it is dreaming of a greener future.
15. Tateishi A typical district of Shitamachi, the lower part of Tokyo. Rickety wooden houses, decrepit shopping alleys and residents whose way of life has remained traditional. For the last ten years, other Tokyoites have been flocking here to sample its reputedly cheap street food.