Tokyo Overground: Asagaya to Ogikubo

On our recent 30 minute walk to Ogikubo, we found once again that to have an interesting experience in Tokyo, you just need to walk down the street!

One of the main arteries connecting the two areas

I love seeing these traditional houses with matching classic cars.

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Tokyo Overground After Dark: Koiwa to Aoto

Yesterday, I redid the 45 minute trek from Koiwa (where Third Uncle is) and Aoto (for Shinto Gangu). This time, I left Third Uncle at around 5:00 PM. In winter in Tokyo, the sun is already on its way down by noon, and by 4:30, it's starting to set. So this was a night trek, which I thought would be another interesting side of the walk.

I didn't have a tripod, so the pics are all pretty dark, and some are blurry - so sorry about that. I opened the light meter up to +1 whenever I had a chance to set the camera on a steady base, but even then the shots are less than vivid. In a way, I think that adds to the ambience!

Yamato delivery bike. You can see the yellow sticker with the cat silhouette logo on the rear case.

I took the same route as last time. So, I just headed west from Third Uncle, and once I hit the river, I followed it north.

Tunnel looked kind of spooky

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Tokyo Overground: Third Uncle to Shinto Gangu

I find myself taking the trains less and less these days. There's just too much cool stuff to see walking from spot to spot. The trains are great, but when you take them you're like a mole popping up at different points, and you don't see how neighborhoods connect. Some of my favorite areas are the "netherlands" - around 15-20 minutes from a station.

Anyway, plenty of cool areas are easily bridged on foot: Koenji to Nakano, Shibuya to Harajuku, etc. Today, I was a bit more ambitious. I wanted to walk from Third Uncle (near Koiwa station) to Shinto Gangu (near Aoto). These are kind of a pain to connect via train, since they aren't on the same line or even the same railway. But thanks to Google Maps, plotting a walking route wasn't too hard. I printed three maps but wound up chucking the first two, since the topography was easy enough.

Basically, you go west from Third Uncle until you hit a river. Then turn north. Just after you see a large fork in the river, cross the bridge and go straight. You'll see Shinto Gangu 5 minutes later. Easy enough, but just in case, you might want to print a couple of Google Maps (both places are plotted on my Tokyo toy shop map). Also, a compass always comes in handy.

Total walking time: 45 minutes.

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