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Which of the "fringe" wards do you think are best to live in and why?
Suginami and Setagaya don't count because they're more upscale. I'm talking Itabashi, Kita, Adachi, Katsushika, Edogawa, Nerima etc.
Suginami and Setagaya don't count because they're more upscale.
nerima gets mentioned for the seibu lines but nobody talks about how much of it is actually farmland. the hikarigaoka end is basically a planned new town, wide roads, tons of parks, and the oedo line gets you to shinjuku in like 20 min. downside is its a bubble, everything closes early and you feel the distance if your friends live east side. for pure liveability with kids id still take it over most of the others.
Kita gets overlooked because people lump it in with Adachi, but the Oji and Kumanomata areas along the Keihin-Tohoku and Namboku lines are genuinely convenient. Oji has Asukayama park for cherry blossoms and you're about 15 minutes from Ueno or Akihabara, though the housing stock skews older and you'll pay more than in Katsushika for similar space. The ward also has a surprisingly high concentration of small shotengai that still function, which matters if you cook at home and want a real butcher and fishmonger nearby. My pick if you value rail access over square meters would actually be Kita over Nerima, since the Namboku line puts central Tokyo within a short ride.
It depends a lot on whether you need to be near a particular train line, since these wards are huge and the "fringe" label hides big differences. Nerima is probably the most liveable overall, the Seibu Ikebukuro and Oedo lines give you decent access, and areas like Shakujii-koen or Oizumi-gakuen feel almost suburban with parks and the Shakujii river walk. Adachi gets a bad rap but Kita-Senju is a serious transport hub with the Chiyoda, Hibiya, Tobu Skytree and Tsukuba Express all meeting there, and you can still find a 2LDK under 100k if you go a bit north of the station. Katsushika and Edogawa are cheaper but the flood risk maps around the Arakawa and Nakagawa are worth checking before you sign anything. If I had to pick one I'd take Nerima for the balance, or Kita-Senju if commuting matters more than greenery.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.