Omoide Yokocho

Tiny postwar alley of yakitori and sake bars under Shinjuku Station, unchanged for 70 years

Omoide Yokocho is a narrow alley of tiny bars and yakitori restaurants packed directly under the elevated Shinjuku Station tracks — probably the most atmospheric street in Tokyo and one that looks almost unchanged since 1950. The stalls seat four to eight people apiece, smoke billows from charcoal grills, and the smell of soy-glazed chicken fills the air.

This is where salarymen have been drinking since the postwar black market days, and the vibe remains resolutely unreconstructed. The best approach is to walk the full length first (it takes about 30 seconds) and choose a stall with empty seats at the counter. Order the chicken skewers and cheap sake. It gets very crowded after 7pm; arrive when it opens around 5–6pm for the best experience.

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A story
Omoide Yokocho — Memory Lane — was nicknamed 'Piss Alley' in the postwar years, when the alley lacked toilets and visitors had to relieve themselves against the wall. The name stuck, though it is used affectionately today. The alley survived repeated attempts at redevelopment and a fire in 1999 that destroyed much of it, rebuilt in the same cramped style.

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