Yurakucho

Located at the south of Tokyo Station, Yurakucho JR Station serves a convivial retro district that is hiding its treasures under the elevated railway tracks of the Yamanote Line. All the cuisines of the world are available at this flock of Japanese restaurants and izakaya pubs nestled in the passages running below the rail tracks. There is no space wasted under the railway viaduct’s red bricks arches to accommodate its regulars stopping by for a snack and a relaxing time after their working day.

In Japan, since the end of the 19th century, train 🚅 has become one of the main transportation mode to commute and travel between larger cities. The stations and their surrounding streets developed into small convenient villages for the every day commuters.

Inaugurated in 1872, Shimbashi was a very busy station as it also was at the times the terminal station of the Tokaido Line connecting to Kobe. New districts developed in the vicinity, like Yurakucho, for salary-men of the luxury streets nearby, such as Ginza, Hibiya and Nihonbashi, to mingle with travelers who just arrived in the capital. Everybody gathered in a relaxed atmosphere to eat yakitori skewers and clink glasses.

The current days’ area has succeeded in maintaining this welcoming side and Yurakucho is still a must-go for its typical venues decorated with red lanterns 🏮 that animate at the end of the day. Most of the pubs are squeezed under the railway tracks, and are called in Japanese gado-shita izakaya, that is to say "the bars under the guardrails." The low-rise architecture, nostalgia and a bit of messiness combined into the izakaya’s give them a charm that works wonder as one instantly feel at home and ready for a happy evening with friends.

"Neo-yokocho" and modernized underground passageways

Over the recent years, some of these underground recreational concourses have been modernized so as to cater to an audience who is both larger and more upscale, especially foreign tourists and exclusively female groups. That being said, Yurakucho district is more suitable to adult customers than to families with children. For example, the Uracori neo-yokocho is a newly laid out alley under the railway tracks between Yurakucho and Ginza, where gather several types of nightly venues such as a nightclub and a casino, where only adults are allowed.

The Hibiya Okuroji complex, inaugurated in 2020 can also be mentioned, as it offers a walk to Shinbashi Station. This 300-meters long alley under the century-old preserved bricks arches is lined with about thirty places in the luxurious range. You’ll find semi-gastronomic restaurants, and high-end handicraft stores.

Yurakucho’s district is popular and cosmopolitan with a busy peak usually in the evening on weekdays, when crowds of suits pour out of the neighboring glass towers at the end of their working day. Make sure to arrive early enough to get a seat, try on several venues and enjoy the local food specialties: seafood, various sashimi, grilled meat skewers as well as many kinds of cooked variety meat.