Market
Omoide Yokocho
- Mon
- 00:00–23:59
- Tue
- 00:00–23:59
- Wed
- 00:00–23:59
- Thu
- 00:00–23:59
- Fri
- 00:00–23:59
- Sat
- 00:00–23:59
- Sun
- 00:00–23:59
- Hours
- There is no single schedule; opening hours vary by individual venue.
- Price
- Alley entry is free: ¥0; food and drink prices vary by venue.
- How to visit
- The entrances are beside Shinjuku Station’s West Exit, about a 1–2-minute walk away. The lanes are narrow; ask before photographing people or interiors, and do not use tripods or flash.
- Hours
- Free entry
- Hours
- Fine in the rain
- Hours
- Good after dark
- Hours
- About 60 min

Why it is worth the detour
«Memory Lane» by Shinjuku's west exit: two alleys of tiny yakitori counters left over from the post-war black market.
Omoide Yokocho is a nostalgic alleyway in Tokyo's Shinjuku, featuring small yakitori stalls that harken back to the post-war era. It offers a glimpse into Tokyo's past with its unique atmosphere and historical significance.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
300 m
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower
The Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower is best known for its unique cocoon-shaped architectural design.
300 m
Shinjuku Station West Exit Underground Plaza
In 1969, a handful of anti-Vietnam War singers with guitars grew into weekly gatherings of several thousand people here. Authorities countered by changing signs from "West Exit Underground Plaza" to "West Exit Underground Passage" and deploying riot police, turning a single word on a sign into an argument over who controlled public space.
350 m
Kabukicho
Japan's largest entertainment district, named after a kabuki theatre that was never built; the Godzilla head looks down from the Toho building.
450 m
Shinjuku Golden Gai
This maze of tiny two-story bars began with postwar black-market traders and later became an unlicensed red-light district. After prostitution was outlawed in 1958, its cramped rooms became refuges for writers, filmmakers and theater people; regulars Kenji Nakagami and Ryuzo Saki won the Akutagawa and Naoki prizes simultaneously in 1976, sealing the district's bohemian reputation.
550 m
Hanazono Shrine
In the summer of 1967, Juro Kara's Situation Theatre erected its first Red Tent in the shrine precincts, rejecting conventional playhouses for a temporary, carnivalesque stage. The performances made this working shrine one of the foundational locations of Japan's angura theater movement, and Red Tent productions have continued to return.
800 m
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Kenzo Tange's twin-towered city hall combines monumental late-modern architecture with free observatories overlooking the metropolis.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.





