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Planning to walk the entire Yamanote Line - any recommendations for places to visit nearby stations?
I am planning on walking the entire Yamanote Line (my Japanese train-loving uni professor always went on about when he did it and it seemed like a cool idea).
I want to stop at every station and get a stamp to remember the trip by. While at every station, I want to visit or see something interesting before moving on to the next place on the list.
Where are your favourite places nearby any of the stations and why? :) Lesser and more well-known stations are welcome!
Thank you!
Walking the full loop is a solid plan, and the stamps make it feel like a real mission. At Tamachi, skip the station itself and head to the tiny Shiba Toshogu shrine just north of the tracks. It's a quiet, old-school spot with carvings that survived the war, and you'll have it almost to yourself. A bit further on, if you get off at Meguro and walk along the canal towards the river, there's a stretch of cherry trees that are stunning even without the blossoms. On the west side, Nakano's Broadway is the obvious draw but the shotengai right outside the station's north exit has a fantastic standing soba place called Kanda Matsuya that does a solid kake soba for under 300 yen.
good call on the stamps, the station staff are usually happy to help if you ask at the ticket window. for a less obvious stop, get off at tabata and walk south toward the yanaka cemetery, it's massive and peaceful with a great view of the city from the hill near the back. the area around komagome has the rikugien garden which is beautiful but also the tiny kyufukai teahouse just outside the station for a cheap matcha set that tourists miss. if you're hungry near uguisudani, there's a standing sushi place called sushi yoshikawa right by the north exit that does a solid morning set for like 700 yen, no frills but really fresh.
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.
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