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26 things to do in Tomigaya, the cool neighbourhood of inner Shibuya

Spend your day exploring this trendy part of Shibuya, which is just 10 minutes' walk from Shibuya Crossing

Kaila Imada
Contributor: Kirsty Bouwers
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Tomigaya is always in the conversation when discussing Tokyo’s coolest districts, but this little indie neighbourhood remains relatively calm and collected considering its proximity to central Shibuya. Roughly consisting of a couple of blocks southwest of Yoyogi Park, it stretches south from Yoyogi-Hachiman Station to, at most, the Bunkamura – technically you’re in Kamiyamacho by then, but everyone still seems to call it Tomigaya.

Here you’ll find cute cafés, trendy coffee shops, eccentric fashion stores and fantastic restaurants next to old tofu shops and the local butchers. Long-term residents complain that there’s been too much gentrification in the past few years, but for now some of the golden oldies seem to still be holding out.

RECOMMENDED: The coolest neighbourhoods in Tokyo

Food

  • Bistros
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

The perfect hangout before or after a day out in Yoyogi Park, Path serves breakfast and brunch – including its famous, super-fluffy dutch pancake – from 8am to 2pm.

Get there early to secure a seat and wait around 30 minutes for this oven-baked delicacy, topped with uncured ham, burrata and copious amounts of maple syrup, to appear piping hot at your table. And we do mean early: its popularity means that there may be a small queue before the 8am opening.

At night, you get to pick from natural wines, Kyoto craft beer and rare liqueurs to complement the beautifully plated Italian cuisine, all in a delightfully laidback atmosphere.

  • Cafés
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

This restaurant next to Yoyogi Park serves breakfast all day, so no problem if you're a late riser. Look out for the large iron hotplate at the counter where you can watch the chefs cook while you wait for your food. 

The venue’s signature Mouillettes Plate features toast strips for dipping into two soft boiled eggs, pink mashed potato, bean salad, thick bacon, Lithuanian ducas cheese and seasonal veggies. The bread is sourced from luxury bread company Sugoi Bread, known for crafting one of the fluffiest loaves of shokupan in Tokyo. Each slice is cut into thick pieces and grilled to order.

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  • Shibuya

This small family-run restaurant serves only one dish: katsudon. But its secret culinary weapon is dipping the deep-fried pork cutlets in a special sauce before serving them atop an egg omelette. Bowls are served alongside miso soup and a small dish of pickles, making it an all-round satisfying meal.

  • Cafés
  • Shibuya

Tableware brand Marumitsu Poterie's very own café satisfies locals' cravings for hearty Japanese home cooking and delicious desserts, all served on plates so cute you'll want to take them home with you. To tempt you further, the first floor of the café is a dedicated shop space where you can shop for all sorts of chic tableware and utensils.

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  • Shopping
  • Bakeries
  • Shibuya

Succulent egg custard, dusted with sugar and cinnamon and served in a light, crisp puff pastry case: once you've tried a good pastel de nata, there's no going back.

Nata de Cristiano’s makes three batches of pastel per day, overseen by a baker who learned her art at famed Porto cake shop Tavi. The café starts baking at 9am each morning, with tarts available for takeaway from 10am – ideal if you're looking for picnic treats.

  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Levain is one of the pioneers of the artisanal bread scene in Tokyo, and has been serving its wild-yeast leavened bread and baked goods since the 1980s.

The cosy, den-like brick bakery and adjacent café is inspired by ‘a mountain cottage at the border of France and Switzerland’, says Mako, wife of baker-owner Mikio Koda. It’s a specific, inspired vision, as is characteristic of Mikio, who opened the bakery out of a desire to provide the community with bread that is ‘healthy enough to eat everyday’.

All Levain products are made from organic ingredients and at least 25 percent whole-wheat flour, while the wild yeast is cultivated on-site. Don’t miss Levain’s rustic and aromatic pain de campagne, fruit-packed ‘melange’ loaf, and the melt-in-your-mouth butter croissants.

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  • Shopping
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Minimal founder Takashi Yamashita equates chocolate to Japanese cuisine in that both taste better without the addition of unnecessary ingredients or flavourings.

Minimal’s neatly packaged chocolates are stamped with colour-coded profiles detailing each bar’s origin, texture, sugar content, roast and ratio of beans in such a way that they resemble novelty items. But chocolate enthusiasts shouldn’t walk away without purchasing a few bars to sample and compare. 

At the café, the indulgent chocolate parfait and hot chocolate are year-round crowd pleasers, but don’t overlook the seasonal plated desserts either, such as chocolate flan with homemade ice cream, pastel parfaits and fruit-filled crêpes. 

  • Vegan
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Vegan café The Nuts Exchange serves latte and cappuccino made with macadamia nut milk, alongside sweet treats like brownies, fruit tarts, cookies and pound cakes made with plant-based ingredients. The counter is also stocked with tempting snacks like granola and flavoured mixed nuts sold by weight, available for eating in or to go.

At lunchtime, the café serves up ‘egg’ muffin sandwiches or rice sets that come with two to three deli dishes of your choice for just ¥1,200. 

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  • Shopping
  • Bakeries
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Owner Masako Takahashi opened her own bagel shop after gaining recognition with her baking classes and cookbooks, and her attention to detail shines through at this cosy shop near Yoyogi Park. The bagels come in three varieties, namely the chewy 'mochi-mochi', the soft 'fuka-fuka' and the in-between 'mugyu-mugyu', all of which are available in multiple flavours. 

  • French
  • Shibuya

Owner-chef Rimpei Yoshikawa’s dishes are a map of his travels through Europe, North Africa and South America, and his time working in Bordeaux, France – but recreated with local ingredients. Fresh vegetables come from the Farmers Market at UNU and Tom’s Farm in Chiba, beef comes from Gunma, and seafood comes directly from a fishmonger in Owase, Mie prefecture.

Be sure to try a seafood dish – like the smoked Spanish mackerel with cashew nut sauce – which beautifully showcases the freshness of the fish and Yoshikawa’s passion and expertise. The house-made merguez sausage, which comes with a punchy harissa paste, is a good option, too, but the guacamole is the crowd pleaser, made with ample citrus, herbs and jalapeños, then topped with fresh tomatoes and seafood.

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  • Shibuya

Housemade mozzarella and ricotta take pride of place at this cheesy eatery. You can have your fromage in a variety of forms at Shibuya Cheese Stand: in a salad, sandwich, pizza or even dessert – how does a mozzarella muffin sound? It also offers cheese for takeaway, including as a nifty caciocavallo pouch that would look great dangling off your bicycle handlebars (maybe).

  • Wine bars
  • Shibuya

Everybody's favourite secret wine bar in Shibuya, Ahiru Store's reputation has far outstripped the size of its premises. Located at the far end of Tomigaya, this corner bar is run by a sibling tag-team: he takes care of the wine list, she bakes the bread and oversees the food.

Both are consistently interesting. Sommelier Teruhiko Saito sticks to natural wines, predominantly French and many from little-known producers, with a rotating selection available by the glass.

Meanwhile, the kitchen serves up some superior bistro fare, running from sister Wakako's excellent rustic breads to generous salads, housemade sausages and pates. 

Drink

  • Café bars
  • Shibuya

The original Fuglen shop in Oslo, Norway is a blend of café, cocktail bar and vintage design boutique, where even the furniture is up for sale. Its Tokyo shop transplants the concept to a backstreet corner not far from Yoyogi Park.

Fuglen Tokyo opens at 7am everyday, selling tea and some remarkably good coffee during the daytime (though not any food – if you're feeling peckish, bring your own). It switches to bar mode in the evenings, with Japanese and Norwegian craft beers and a menu of cocktails devised by champion bartender Halvor Digernes.

  • Cafés
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Tucked away off the busy streets of Tomigaya in a tiny multi-story house, Nephew makes for a great all-day hangout as the space transitions from café to bar once the sun goes down. 

During café time, Nephew brews coffee courtesy of Overview Coffee and serves a variety of tasty homemade sweets including muffins, lemon loaf, chocolate cake and banana bread. Come evening, you can still get your coffee fix as the menu includes coffee cocktails as well as seasonal tipples, too.

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  • Cafés
  • Shibuya

Beasty Coffee is another great addition to Tomigaya's ever-growing coffee scene. The chic café sells freshly roasted coffee beans as well as equipment for making the perfect hand drip at home. You can see the coffee roaster work its magic at the back of the shop or take a seat on the bench outside for a bout of people watching.

Beasty Coffee serves up all the classics like cold brew, mochas, lattes and pour overs. It’s also got espresso tonic and its own house craft beer. If you’re feeling peckish, there’s a daily sandwich and small sweets like a cacao egg tart made in collaboration with Nata de Cristiano’s, plus a decadent matcha terrine.

  • Cocktail bars
  • Shibuya

Following the success of The SG Club, the SG Group opened its second bar in Tokyo, this time inspired by the old school kissaten (coffee shops) of the Taisho era (1912-1926).

The cocktail list is created by legendary bartender and Chivas Masters World Champion Atsushi Suzuki, and includes inventive concotions such as the frozen coffee-based Udabra, made with Bacardi Ocho, café con leche and sesame, designed to pair with dishes like the Thai-inspired ramen offered from 11pm every night. 

The venue even has a second, smaller bar in the back dedicated to experimental cocktail and food pairings. 

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  • Craft beer pubs
  • Shibuya

The best bar in the area for a post-work pint, Øl Tokyo is the local outpost of Oslo Brewing and exudes Scandinavian style: the furniture and part of the décor was flown in straight from Norway.

The 20 taps serve a range of Nordic brews plus a rotating selection of guest beers. Food trucks occasionally park in front of the bar to compensate for its very sparse food menu, although we love the house-made waffles, filled with goat’s cheese – when in Norway and all...

  • Wine bars
  • Shibuya

At this hideaway wine bar, owner Toshiya Kawasaki takes the Japanese concept of a listening bar – where the proprietor plays their own collection of records on a high-end audio system – and combines it with his love of natural wine.

Kawasaki is the owner of Mule Musiq, one of Japan’s leading dance music labels. He's also a DJ, regularly playing in North America and Europe, while his affection for natural wine is inspired by the movement in Paris. At Studio Mule, he sells around 1,000 varieties of natural wine from a personal collection accumulated over the past ten years, mostly from France and Italy. 

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  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Meaning ‘bright’ or ‘sun-bathed’ in Japanese, Sansan does indeed have a distinct sunniness to it: partly from the bright, well-lit room and blonde-timber décor, and partly from the warm demeanour of owner Yuko Enomoto. 

The cosy wine bar, which seats just eight along its counter, is tucked into the back streets of Tomigaya, a few minutes’ walk from Yoyogi-Hachiman Station.

Yuko opened Sansan in 2011 to create a space where people could just drop in on the way home from work and enjoy a casual glass of wine or two along with some comfort food. The dishes are all prepared by Yuko herself and include snacks like bruschetta, locally made cheese, and a kiwi and avocado salad.

Shop

  • Shopping
  • Shibuya

The staff at this ultra-hip bookshop are more interested in encouraging new discoveries than hawking the latest bestseller. Magazines and books, both new and used, are arranged according to theme, meaning that you might find a philosophical tract alongside some manga or art books.

Though the selections are predominantly Japanese-language, Shibuya Publishing Booksellers also stocks a few English titles – and it's a rewarding place to browse even if you can't read most of what you're looking at. 

  • Shopping
  • Shibuya

As shop manager Keisuke Imaizumi says, 'This is where Monocle becomes 3D.' It's the perfect way to describe the store, as it's here that lifestyle products and fashion featured in the magazine spill from the page into reality, but it's also an apt description for the overall evolution of the Monocle brand.

Fans of the magazine will already know all about Monocle's collaborations with brands such as Comme des Garçons, Porter, Barena and Mackintosh. You'll also find the brand's own menswear capsule collection, Monocle Voyage, which brings together the best of Italian and Japanese materials in a range that's aimed at jetsetters in need of a wardrobe that can cross both countries and climates. Of course, there's always the latest issue of the mag to tide you over till pay day.

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  • Shopping
  • Florists
  • Shibuya

Dry flowers and a pharmacy-themed concept define this shop run by renowned flower artist Megumi Shinozaki, who counts nearly a decade in the industry supplying flower art for TV commercials, shop decorations and the like. Here, you can personalise your very own hand-picked dry flower arrangement that will make you forget all about fresh florals.

The range of dried flowers at the shop changes every two months. But at any given time, you have 20 varieties to choose from. Take your pick and have them arranged into a beautiful bouquet, preserved in a bottle, or displayed in a glass dome. 

  • Shopping
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

This second-hand store has been selling used CDs, records and, of course, books since August 2011. What sets it apart from the bookshop stack is its collection of mushroom tomes – a portion of the store is dedicated entirely to books about fungi, written in a variety of languages.

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  • Shopping
  • Specialist food and drink
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Opened by Koji Tsuchiya – one of Japan's top chocolatiers and owner of Musée Du Chocolat Théobroma – the shop is stocked to the brim with quality cacao products, including choc-infused shampoos. Tsuchiya sources his beans from around the world, ensuring you get only the best and richest on offer.

Browse the store shelves, stock up on gifts, or take up a seat in the cosy café and enjoy a chocolate bar served on toast, or a latte with shaved chocolate scattered on top. Buying the beans to take home? Here's a tip from the sales staff: grate the beans and add to cake mixture before baking. Yum.

Attractions

  • Things to do
  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

You should only visit a dog café if you truly love dogs. You need to love that they will climb on your lap, lick your iPhone, make your hands smell, fight over toys, and possibly even do their business on the floor right in front of you.

If you’re visiting Dog Heart, in particular, you should also love toy poodles since they make up the majority of the pups here. However, there’s also a beagle, French bulldog, cavalier, Boston terrier, Japanese chin and two lovely golden retrievers. 

Unlike other animal cafés, Dog Heart doesn’t have a food or drink menu and you either pay to spend time with the dogs or rent one to take out for a stroll. Dog Heart houses 30 dogs that are switched out daily on rotation, with 12 of them available to play with during any given visit.

  • Attractions
  • Parks and gardens
  • Harajuku

Get back to nature without straying too far from the nearest station with an outing to Yoyogi Park. A quick walk from the streets of Tomigaya, the park is a perfect place to settle down for a peaceful picnic with some treat's from the many bakeries and cafés in the area.

If your timing is right, you may even run into a festival or two happening in the park. The south side has an event plaza and open-air stage that hosts many of Tokyo’s larger festivals, including the annual Earth Day, Thai Festival and One Love Jamaica.

Have more time to explore?

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