Setagaya trip to market

There are many activities in Tokyo that are seasonal or held periodically. Today, we visited the Setagaya street fair/market. It’s an event we saw on the Best Living Japan website, a good source for information about activities in Tokyo.

Setagaya is an area of Tokyo we have seldom visited. Fortunately, Google Maps provides an easy (and usually accurate) set of directions. Today, we took the JR Yamanote line from Tamachi Station to Shibuya Station. Then a change of trains to the Tokyu Den-entoshi Line, to Sangenjaya Station. From there, change trains to the Setagaya Line, a small tram rail line (one of the few tram lines remaining in Tokyo) going to Setagaya Station. Sounds more complicated than it really is. The street fair started just outside Setagaya Station. 

The street fair is held twice a year. There are some 700 booths, selling just about everything from clothing, to dishware, to street food. It’s crowded…be ready to navigate through lots of people. But it’s an interesting experience, in a part of Tokyo that is a bit more remote from the big city. 

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We spent about two hours wandering through the streets. If you’re really into shopping – or eating – you could easily spend much more time there. 

We chose to walk back from Setagaya to Shibuya. It’s about a six kilometer walk through residential Tokyo. We found a nice urban path that runs through the neighborhoods – paved, away from the busy streets. A quiet, scenic walkway that runs almost all the way to Shibuya. 

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So, today we found an area of Tokyo that, after nearly 3 years of living in Tokyo, we haven’t seen before. It’s part of the fun of living in this safe and walkable city.