Find a bargain in these four markets! - Sugamo Jizo Street Shopping District

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    • Tokyo

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  • Update date

    • 2024-09-20

Sugamo Jizo-dori Shopping Street, where individual shops line the old Nakasendo road, is a shopping street where you can immerse yourself in retro Japanese culture and discover wonderful things that you would have been normally forgotten to time. Did you know that there is a market on the 4th day of every month?

Koganji Temple, known for the "Togenuki Jizo Son," is worshipped as a Jizo that removes all thorns, including worries, suffering, illness, and injury. Koganji Temple was relocated from Ueno due to land readjustment in the Meiji era. In order to keep its parishioners, the original festival day for Jizo Bodhisattva, the 24th, was extended to each day which ends in four (4th, 14th, and 24th) and stalls were invited, which is how the Fourth Market began.

▲There are many Japanese tableware items that would look great when served on. The lacquerware with sumo patterns is also interesting.

The approximately 800m shopping street is bustling with people visiting the shrine and enjoying shopping, and is lined with a variety of stalls selling antiques and miscellaneous goods, pickle shops, gardening shops, knife sharpeners, and more.

▲An antique stall filled with retro items that look like something you've seen somewhere before.

Looking at the oldie CDs and cassette tapes, floral enamel pots, and mysterious everyday items, you'll feel like you've traveled back in time.

▲Tourists from overseas are also enthusiastically browsing the products.

Tourists eagerly browse the shops, even in the heat, looking for their favorite items. What they are picking up appears to be a wooden folk craft item.

▲A showdown between East and West beauties.
▲"Homemade Shichimi Matsumiya" was founded in 1913. Not only during festivals, but they also set up a stall in front of Koganji Temple almost every day.

The owner will explain the benefits of shichimi and help you adjust the spiciness to suit your taste. Your own shichimi, tailored to your needs and physical condition, will be placed in a traditional container and make for a great souvenir.

▲"Inageya" sells meat and side dishes. Yakitori is 135 yen (tax included)

As you stroll along, you'll smell the savory sauce. Drawn by the rising smoke, you'll take a bite of the yakitori grilled right in front of the store. There are also many other outdoor vendors selling yakisoba noodles and okonomiyaki, so depending on the season, you can enjoy snacks as you stroll around.

▲"Ippukutei" is a sweet shop located right in front of the Toden Arakawa Line "Koshinzuka" stop. The fluffy shaved ice, available only in summer, is 715 yen (tax included)

When you hear the sound of a railroad crossing, you're near Koshinzuka Station. Ippukutei, a sweet shop with a retro atmosphere located right in front of the stop, is famous for its ohagi (rice dumplings). The sweets you can enjoy while watching the Toden streetcars arrive and depart are also exceptional.

■Message for guests visiting Japan

Sugamo Jizo Street Shopping Street is a shopping street where you can immerse yourself in retro Japanese culture and discover wonderful things that would normally be forgotten to time. If you come to Sugamo on a day that ends with the number 4, it's your lucky day, guided by the fate of Jizo. Enjoy the various stalls.

■Access

・5 minutes walk from JR Sugamo Station

・1 minute walk from Sugamo Station, Toei Mita Line, Exit A3

・1 minute walk from Koshinzuka Station on the Toden Arakawa Line

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