Finally a Late Japan Post - Ameyoko
Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza yeah yeah, they are the usual spots to go visit for shopping when your in Tokyo. One severely overlooked area is Ueno. Ueno is one of my favourite places to visit whenever I am in Tokyo.
Ueno is downtown Tokyo. The buildings are older, its not clean and modern looking as the other parts of Tokyo, but it has so much more character. It's busy and full of people but a very different crowd from the clean cut salaryman crowd. It's more blue collar, maybe a little rougher, but hell this is still Tokyo so its still safer than anyplace in the west.
Anyway - the main reason to visit Ueno is Ameyoko.
Ameyoko is marketplace, apparantly it started out as a black market after WW2. The name comes from two places apparantly. "Ameyoko" is a short for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store avenue), and as you can guess lots of candy was and still is sold here. Also "Ame" is commonly used shortform for "America", signifying the large amount of black market american goods that used to be sold here. I don't know which is the more accurate story - but its probably both.
To an extent, it still is an American goods influenced place. This is the best place in Tokyo to get jeans. Specifically there is a Amerika-ya shop here that sells all the premium denim you could imagine, as well as Ed Hardy gear, Red Wing Boots, etc etc. In the small market shops you'll find a lot of military surplus gear, silver accessories, sneakers and leather goods. Seriously, what more can I ask for? (except maybe motorcycle parts, but the motorcycle shops are actually not that far from here!)
You do see some obvious fakes here and there, but overall most of the goods here are all genuine.
Of course this is a marketplace, so there is lots of foodstuffs. Mainly fresh fish and meats. There are also little stalls to get okonomiyaki and yakisoba.
It's also worth mentioning that there are a couple of shops here that sell traditional japanese gifts, that are very good quality and much cheaper than the stuff you get into the tourist shops in Ginza, Harajuku and Shibuya. So even if you arent into leather, silver, sneakers or military gear - its still worth visiting old Ameyoko.
Ueno is downtown Tokyo. The buildings are older, its not clean and modern looking as the other parts of Tokyo, but it has so much more character. It's busy and full of people but a very different crowd from the clean cut salaryman crowd. It's more blue collar, maybe a little rougher, but hell this is still Tokyo so its still safer than anyplace in the west.
Anyway - the main reason to visit Ueno is Ameyoko.
Ameyoko is marketplace, apparantly it started out as a black market after WW2. The name comes from two places apparantly. "Ameyoko" is a short for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store avenue), and as you can guess lots of candy was and still is sold here. Also "Ame" is commonly used shortform for "America", signifying the large amount of black market american goods that used to be sold here. I don't know which is the more accurate story - but its probably both.
To an extent, it still is an American goods influenced place. This is the best place in Tokyo to get jeans. Specifically there is a Amerika-ya shop here that sells all the premium denim you could imagine, as well as Ed Hardy gear, Red Wing Boots, etc etc. In the small market shops you'll find a lot of military surplus gear, silver accessories, sneakers and leather goods. Seriously, what more can I ask for? (except maybe motorcycle parts, but the motorcycle shops are actually not that far from here!)
You do see some obvious fakes here and there, but overall most of the goods here are all genuine.
Of course this is a marketplace, so there is lots of foodstuffs. Mainly fresh fish and meats. There are also little stalls to get okonomiyaki and yakisoba.
It's also worth mentioning that there are a couple of shops here that sell traditional japanese gifts, that are very good quality and much cheaper than the stuff you get into the tourist shops in Ginza, Harajuku and Shibuya. So even if you arent into leather, silver, sneakers or military gear - its still worth visiting old Ameyoko.