Strolling Down the Yanaka Ginza Street

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Yanaka Ginza is few minute walk from Nippori station of JR or Sendagi station of Tokyo Metro. Yanaka is a one part of a district called “Yanesen” with two other areas Nezu and Sendagi where shitamachi atmosphere remains nowadays. Shitamachi literally means “downtown” but when Japanese people using “shitamachi”, it means old town where you feel nostalgic. Yanaka Ginza is the most popular street among the “Yanesen” area.

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Even though the street is only about 175 meters long, there are around 70 shops on the both side. You can find fashionable cafes, groceries, delicatessens, clothes, fancy goods and so on. Because Yanaka is a residential area where many local people live, you can feel their daily life just walking down the street.

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A lot of people visiting Yanaka Ginza are enjoying strolling with small snacks or finger food from stalls on the street. The first snack I would like recommend you is Menchi Katsu, breaded and deep-fried ground meat cutlet. There are some shops selling this cutlet but you can tell which one is good because popular shops have long que lines. Not only cutlet, they have croquette and other deep fried products you would love. Each cutlet or croquette is palm-sized and the price is range between about 200-300 yen, so it is a good deal you try different kinds and share with someone. If you would like to drink some alcohol to warm you up, there are also some shops selling sake and beer so you’ve got to check them out!

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If you like sweets, you can also find a lot of kinds of them. I tried a stick donut called “Shippo” meaning “a tail”. The price is from 130 and you can choose from variety of tastes.

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Because there are a lot of stray cats in Yanesen area, Yanesen also knows as cats’ town. You can find many kinds of cat themed goods on the street. Also, there are many cat statues so it is fun to walk down the street looking for the statues.

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Yanaka is walking distance from Ueno and you can walk around Yanesen area. Only Yanaka Ginza is fun enough for you to visit but if you have a full day, you would like to explore the whole Yanesen area. There are a lot of temples around and you can enjoy the beautiful Nezu Shrine’s lined-up Torii gates. If you visit there in spring, you cannot miss Yanaka Reien (Cemetery) where is famous for sakura (Cherry blossoms) viewing.

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