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Nestled in the West suburbs of Tokyo on the end of the Marunouchi Line, Ogikubo (荻窪) first hit the travelgasm.com radar because it is the home of an elusive cafe dedicated to Japanese author Haruki Murakami, famous for Norwegian Wood and other books. It might also pop up for a dedicated ramen (拉麺) connoisseur because it is famous for ramen among the Japanese. In fact, the district is considered to be the original source of Tokyo-style ramen, which uses a stock based on fish rather than the more common pork.

On the ground, we discovered that once you make it over the less than pleasant Ome Highway (青梅街道) next to Ogikubo Station (荻窪駅), there also is an attractive, narrow, people-scale shopping street called Kyokai-dori (教会通り).

At the time we first wrote this piece, the world's search engine did tag Kyokai-dori as a tourist attraction in Japanese (荻窪教会通り商店街), but it had yet to receive a single review in any language, and the entire neighborhood's presence on the big tourist advisory sites was negligible. Consequently, we consider Ogikubo to be a good choice for our 7 Things Tourists Don't Do in Tokyo, but You Should.

Whether you're interested in Haruki Murakami, ramen noodles, a pleasant local shopping option, or some combination thereof, Ogikubo is an enjoyable destination.

Haruki Murakami

Rokujigen (6次元) — Sixth Dimension in English — is the cafe/bar/book store/event space dedicated to Haruki Murakami. It has subsequently added kintsugi (金継ぎ) — the Japanese art of reconstructing broken ceramics with a gold-infused lacquer — to its collection of interests, as well.

Rokujigen is difficult to find even with a map. When you're in the right spot, there is a narrow, unmarked staircase to the right of the Ogikubo Ramen Kikuchi (荻窪らーめん 菊池) restaurant. Go up this staircase. On the second floor there is a wooden sign for The Bonten — a jazz club that closed decades ago — and, at least when we visited, Rokujigen was written below it in chalk. The door to the right of the sign is the venue.

The hours are listed incorrectly on online maps, and the official Japanese language website doesn't list its hours at all. However, excellent local website Shift reports that Rokujigen is closed on Wednesday entirely. Its hours are otherwise 6 PM to 11 PM during the week, and 1 PM to 11 PM on the weekends. It also requires reservations during some special events.

The owner of Rokujigen reportedly has a full-time job, and the place probably should be thought of as a semi-secret club run by a Murakami fan as a labor of love rather than a business. If you speak Japanese, and Rokujigen is your primary reason for going to Ogikubo, it would be wise to call ahead and confirm if it will be open and available to visit.

Ramen Options

There are a couple dozen or so ramen joints clustered around Ogikubo Station. The most famous is Harukiya (春木屋). Established in 1949, Harukiya is known for its balanced, dried sardine-based broth (煮干し) and attention to detail that includes "taking into account the day's weather and humidity" when preparing the noodles each morning. It is closed on Tuesday.

Some other locally well-regarded ramen places include Maruchou (丸長), Ramen Jirou (ラーメン二郎), and Futaba (ラーメン二葉). We particularly liked Futaba, both for its tasty short-cut noodles and for its quieter location off the main street.

Kyokai-dori

Kyokai-dori — which translates into English as Church Street and technically is in a neighborhood called Amanuma (天沼) across the street from Ogikubo — is reserved only for people on foot and bikes.

Kyokai-dori has an official website in Japanese with a complete list of the 69 shops and restaurants, but it is a pleasant stroll and ideal just to wander and find your own favorites as the street meanders through the tight-knit warren of the neighborhood. It is a good location for some shopping that is more interesting and unique than tourist targeted places, certainly.

Below, we've mapped out the quickest route from the metro to Rokujigen and Kyokai-dori as well as the location of the conveniently located Harukiya and Futaba ramen shops.

How to Get Here: Although it also is possible to get to to Ogikubo by JR, it is most convenient to take the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Red) to Ogikubo (M01). To follow our preferred walk, take the Northwest Exit (北西口) and walk up to the podium level to cross the Ome Highway (青梅街道) for Kyokai-dori (教会通り). For Harukiya, take the North Exit (北口), and turn right.

Cities > Tokyo > Tokyo Overlooked 7 > Next: (6) Stroll the Pearl... >>

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