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Kanda-Sudacho (神田須田町) — generally just abbreviated as Sudacho (須田町) — is an underappreciated district just on the other side of the Kanda River (神田川) from the popular tech-encrusted district of Akihabara (秋葉原).

Sudacho, and Awajicho (淡路町) next door, were two of the few neighborhoods with a number of small, traditional buildings that survived WWII. Much of the district has been rather unfortunately redeveloped subsequently with nondescript small-scale structures, but there are a handful of restaurants in this area that have managed not only to preserve their old buildings but also to stay in business for around a century.

These restaurants are extremely famous among Japanese people. The most famous two — Kanda Yabusoba (かんだやぶそば) and Kanda Matsuya (神田まつや), which both sell soba noodles (そば) — also are famous enough to attract foodie tourists, particularly foodie tourists from Japan and elsewhere in Asia. However, on the big tourist advisory sites, even these two restaurants had only a couple dozen reviews in English at the time that travelgasm.com first wrote this piece. The other restaurants and the neighborhood itself had received even more modest attention. The vast majority of tourists in Tokyo never make it to Sudacho, and we think we can include it in our 7 Things Tourists Don't Do in Tokyo, but You Should accordingly.

Old-Style Restaurants in Sudacho

These old-style restaurants have managed to maintain the architecture, the food style and preparation, or both, from about a century ago:

• Botan (ぼたん) - Rebuilt after the great earthquake in 1924, this place has sold grilled chicken sukiyaki, and nothing else, for nearly a hundred years. Closed Sunday.
• Isegen (いせ源) - Founded in 1830, and in its current building since 1930, it's the only restaurant in Tokyo that specializes in monkfish dishes. For a truly unique meal and unique architecture this restaurant is the best in the district, in our opinion.
• Matsuya (神田まつや) - Founded in 1884, and in its current building since 1924, it is famous for its unpretentious soba noodles. Closed Sunday.
• Kemuri (けむり) - Opened in 2005 in a restored building built before WWII, it is an izakaya that specializes in smoked meats and vegetables. Closed Sunday.
• Takemura (竹むら) - Founded in its current building in 1930, it sells traditional Japanese sweets, mostly red bean-based, as well as ice cream. Closed Sunday and Monday.
• Yabusoba (かんだやぶそば) - Founded in 1880, long famous for its soba noodles. Sadly, the original building burned down in 2013, but it was rebuilt and reopened in a new building the next year. Technically, it is in Awajicho across the street from Sudacho. Closed Wednesday.

Below, we've mapped out a logical route from Ogawamachi/Awajicho Station to the historically and architecturally interesting restaurants and back.

How to Get Here: Take the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Red) to Awajicho Station (M19) or Toei Metro Shinjuku Line (Leaf) to Ogawamachi Station (S07). These are a combined transfer station. You also can take the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (Green) to Shin-Ogawamachi Station (C12), which is connected directly underground to Ogawamachi Station by a long tunnel. The best exit to take is A3 from Ogawamachi Station. If you instead arrive at Shin-Ogawamachi Station, and you don't have a combined Toyko Metro-Toei Metro Day Pass, you will need to take exit B4 and walk a bit further on the street level.

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