Is Omoide Yokocho ("Memory Lane") worth it?
The short answer, from a Tokyo hotel insider
Yes, but only if you actually sit down. It's a huddle of smoky postwar yakitori stalls crammed under the JR tracks by the West Exit, and the whole point is squeezing onto a stool with a beer and a plate of skewers next to strangers. Walking through it with a camera takes three minutes and tells you nothing about why people love it.
- Best time to go: Early evening, around five or six, before the stools fill. Later than seven and you'll be hovering behind someone waiting for a seat.
- How long to budget: An hour or so, which is about as long as a stool stays comfortable.
- Rough cost: Free to walk in. Skewers and a beer usually land somewhere around two to three thousand yen a head.
- Where it is: Shinjuku Station, West Exit — it's the huddle of alleys immediately under the JR tracks.
- Skip it if: You can't sit in smoke, you need a non-smoking room, or you want a quiet dinner. It's cramped and smoky by design, and that's not a fault.
It's in Shinjuku, so see what else is worth your time around it.
Is Omoide Yokocho ("Memory Lane") worth it? Common questions
Is Omoide Yokocho ("Memory Lane") worth visiting?
Yes, but only if you actually sit down. It's a huddle of smoky postwar yakitori stalls crammed under the JR tracks by the West Exit, and the whole point is squeezing onto a stool with a beer and a plate of skewers next to strangers. Walking through it with a camera takes three minutes and tells you nothing about why people love it.
What is Omoide Yokocho?
A narrow set of alleys of tiny postwar eating stalls under the railway tracks at Shinjuku's west side, also called Memory Lane. Most places seat six to ten people at a counter and grill yakitori in front of you.
Is Omoide Yokocho expensive?
No. It's cheap, casual eating: a handful of skewers and a drink rather than a full restaurant meal. Check whether a place has a cover charge before you sit, as some do.
Is Omoide Yokocho or Golden Gai better?
They're different evenings. Omoide Yokocho is for eating: grilled skewers, quick, early. Golden Gai is for drinking and talking to whoever's next to you, and it starts later. If you only have one night, eat in one and drink in the other, they're a ten-minute walk apart.
Do people speak English there?
Some do, some don't, and it genuinely doesn't matter much. Most stalls have a picture menu or a set, and pointing works. Nobody will mind.