The alleys of Nakano

The apartment we rented in Nakano is not in a tourist area. In fact we saw very few foreigners in the neighbourhood or alleys at all. The train station was within walking distance and it would have taken at least 2 weeks of serious effort to discover all of the little shops within a 1km radius let alone the food shops and restaurants. There were at least 50 Ramen restaurants within walking distance alone. Keeping in mind that most of the eating places are no bigger than my kitchen - including the cooking area and bar.
I would say it is like West End - close to the city but with personality. We must give Ron credit for finding this place. He did such a good job of finding accommodation on our European trip that he was given the job again.

Sun Mall

When you come out of the Nakano railway station and cross the road this is what you see. In fact the mall is so long you really can't see the end. Right at the end is a 3 story shopping centre called Broadway. Apparently there is another shopping centre off Broadway but we didn't make it there. The shops are the maddest mixture. Pharmacies, take away food, fashion, French bakeries, noodle shops, tea specialists etc etc.

A side alley

Every few metre's there is a side alley (open to the sky) that is full of food places. These are all 2 stories high so that is approximately 2 restaurants to each door way.

I just loved these lanterns

I went back at night to photograph them again.

So exotic

At night I found out that it becomes a night club/girlie bar area. Not at all scary or threatening, almost cartoon like.
The whole area was so fascinating that the whole 6 days could have been spent here exploring.

Loved this in the early morning
It became a noisy bar at night.