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Built starting in 1918, and loosely based on the 1902 Garden Cities of To-morrow concept by the British Ebenezer Howard, Denenchofu (田園調布) — often hyphenated as Den-en-chofu — is located to the south of the core of Tokyo. Denen (田園) means something along the lines of "garden field" when translated into English and chofu (調布) refers to its regional location. Despite its relative distance, Denenchofu is about a 15-minute Express train ride to Shibuya (渋谷区), so it is an easy commute.

In contrast to the hectic buzz of Shibuya's famous scramble crossing and its largely disorderly jumble of unplanned side streets, though; Denenchofu is quiet, peaceful, and meticulously arranged in a radial grid around its dedicated train station.

Denenchofu is nowhere near the tourist trail, and it doesn't have any must-see attractions per se, but it has long been one of the most prestigious and expensive suburbs of Tokyo and is considered a highly desirable place for those with enough money to live and raise a family.

In much of Tokyo, main streets can be large and noisy, side streets often can force people and cars to jockey for space, and even the best mixed-use, transit-oriented developments in the core of the city — like Roppongi Hills (六本木ヒルズ) — are unlikely to make a Western architecture critic happy with their large form and scale. Denenchofu, on the other hand, primarily is human scale, mixed use, and transit oriented — complete with pleasant tree-lined sidewalks on primary side streets that provide a short stroll to the train station. Denenchofu does not seem to be quite dense enough to support its retail entirely independently of vehicular traffic, many side streets still don't have sidewalks, and it doesn't exactly provide housing for a wide range of incomes. It does offer much that would make a New Urbanist happy, though, even some form-based codes.

If you're interested in architecture or city planning or just want to escape the manic energy of central Tokyo for a pleasant stroll and lunch, Denenchofu is well worth seeing.

In addition to the Precce (プレッセ) gourmet grocery store — which is attached to the Denenchofu train station to form the nexus of a good transit-oriented suburb — there are at least a couple dozen restaurants conveniently clustered just to the east. The best regarded restaurant in the area is the pricey Metzgerei SASAKI (メッツゲライ ササキ) for German food. On our visits, we enjoyed an inexpensive set sushi lunch from the Sushi Misakimaru (すし三崎丸) chain and an expensive, but high-quality, honeycomb-topped ice cream from Sugi Bee Garden (杉養蜂園).

Below, we've mapped out a short walk through the axis of the commercial heart to the east of Denenchofu station and the residential estates to the west.

How to Get Here: Take the Tokyu Toyoko Line (TY) or Tokyu Meguro Line (MG) to Den-en-chofu (TY08, MG08). Only the Express and Semi-Express trains stop at this station. The Limited Express and Commuter Express trains do not stop. Also note that Tokyu is a separate rail company from Tokyo Metro, Toei Metro, and JR East Rail. From Den-en-chofu, the East Exit (東口), to the right, is the commercial heart of the district. The West Exit (西口), to the left (and up the stairs), goes to the residential estates.

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