Omoide Yokocho Memory Lane
Tourist attraction · Shinjuku ·
Atmospheric alley with tiny bars & yakitori stalls, glowing lanterns
Atmospheric alley with tiny bars & yakitori stalls, glowing lanterns
"What’s this place all about? Shinjuku ’s Omoide Yokocho is an atmospheric, narrow lane filled with 60 or so bustling, open-fronted, hole in-the-wall restaurants, each seating only a handful of customers. Come after dark to see the red lanterns glowing and the charcoal smoke billowing into the streets. Who’s eating here? Locals frequenting their favorite yakitori shop; tourists and travelers lured in by the characterful and charming setting. What’s to drink? It’s all about beer; ask for Kirin or Suntory Premium Malt. And what should we order to eat? Even at these small yakitori joints, you can embrace the Japanese concept of omakase, where you leave your meal in the hands of the chefs. Then sit back and relax while you are served a continuous stream of tasty skewers of chicken, pork, and vegetables. How is the service? At these tiny yakitori stalls, everything is quick and efficient. You sit down and there are only one or two staff. Service is is a notch above a street cart, and the atmosphere is lively and frenetic." - Anna Chittenden
"This narrow Shinjuku alley of miniature counter-seat bars and yakitori stalls, usually packed with tourists during cherry blossom season, has become a startlingly empty, ghostly strip lined with shuttered restaurants and hand-scrawled "closed" signs — a vivid symbol of how the collapse in visitors has gutted Tokyo's small hospitality businesses." - Frank Striegl
"Located near the busiest train station in the world, a tiny alley of around 60 small bars and restaurants linked by a narrow street just wide enough for two to pass stands in a stark contrast to its crowded neighbor. This area, known as Omoide Yokocho (“Memory Lane”), started out as a black market in the late 1940s after World War II. The strip was also known for cheap drinks and grilled skewers of yakitori. The area’s many watering holes and lack of public restrooms earned it the nickname “piss alley,” as inebriated patrons would relieve themselves in the street. Although the alley was partly razed to make room for the new Shinjuku station and partly destroyed in a fire in the 1990s, a sizable chunk has survived. The local government also rebuilt the fire-damaged sections, making sure to restore their original Shōwa-era appearance. Today, Omoide Yokocho is filled with tiny stalls serving yakitori and nikomi (a type of beef tendon stew) meant to be washed down with plenty of cheap beer and sake. One of the most famous, or infamous, of them is suggestively named Asadachi, which means “morning wood.” This bar is known for offering such delicacies as fried frogs, salamanders, and aphrodisiacs such as bull penises to go with your beer. Despite its past, the area is now perfectly safe to visit. Most establishments even offer menus in English. To experience Omoide Yokocho in its full glory, it is recommended to visit at nighttime, when most of the tiny bars are open, the lights are illuminated, and the area is filled with businessmen and tourists alike looking for a quick snack and a good drink. Know Before You Go It's a five-minute walk from Shinjuku station. The Omoide Yokocho website has a convenient map showing the locations of all of the establishments in the alley." - buffycaine99, FrustratedFormerContributor, Fred Cherrygarden, mattpeterturner, Hermit09
"This narrow-laned area in Shinjuku is packed with small street-food eateries and tiny bars, and I loved its chaotic, atmospheric character as part of Shinjuku's microcosm of Tokyo." - Matthew Kepnes
"On this tiny alley of yakitori joints you just wander in and out of little shops and eat tons of good food; many seats are about six people so they fill up fast and some places even require an entrance fee, but they’re all worth it." - Matthew Kepnes
