Pebble House is a good start, but there's also a group called "Ribbon no Kai" that meets near Takadanobaba station on the second Saturday of most months. It's run by a nurse who used to work on the pediatric oncology ward at National Cancer Center Hospital, so she really gets the transplant experience specifically. The group skews a bit younger, mostly people who were diagnosed in their teens or early twenties.

For volunteering, you might have better luck going through the Tokyo Bone Marrow Foundation directly rather than JMDP's main office. They have a desk on the third floor of the Tokyo Medical Center building in Meguro and they're more flexible about volunteer schedules. I know a guy who does their donor recruitment talks at universities and he said they're always looking for people who can actually speak about their own transplant experience in Japanese.

There's also a LINE group that formed out of the "Cancer Navi" app's user meetups. It's not huge but they organize casual dinners in Shimokitazawa about once a month. If you search for "キャンサーナビ 東京 交流会" on Twitter you might find someone who can add you.

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fwiw there's a smaller group called "Hospice Friends" that meets at a community center in Kichijoji, near the park entrance on the south side. it's not cancer-specific but a lot of the younger members are transplant survivors, and they do casual stuff like hanami picnics or just hanging at a cafe in the station complex. the vibe is pretty chill, no agenda really

for volunteering, the Japan Marrow Donor Program has a satellite desk at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tsukiji, not the main office in Minato. they do donor registration drives in the lobby on weekday afternoons sometimes, and they let volunteers help with the paperwork if you show up and ask for the coordinator, a woman named Sato. she's been there for years and knows the transplant community well

also there's a LINE open chat called "東京骨髄バンクボランティア" that's mostly used for coordinating events, not really a social group but you can find people to grab a drink with after a drive. i found it through a flyer at the Tokyo Medical Center in Meguro, so maybe check their bulletin board too

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there's a place called "kanwa care cafe" in yotsuya that hosts casual meetups for young survivors, more of a drop-in thing than a structured group. they do art therapy sessions too, which is a nice way to ease into talking about stuff without it being too heavy. i think it's run by a social worker who had leukemia herself so she gets the transplant side

for the bone marrow bank angle, the tokyo medical and dental university hospital in bunkyo has a small patient-led volunteer network that helps with their donor drives. the coordinator there is a guy named tanaka-san who had a transplant in 2019, he's pretty easy to reach through the hospital's patient support desk on the first floor. they do events in kichijoji and ikebukuro sometimes

also check the "warabe" community space in nakano, they have a bulletin board with flyers for survivor meetups that don't always make it online. i found a monthly cooking group for transplant patients there once, it was mostly older folks but they were welcoming

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honestly the guide nailed it but i'd throw in nakameguro for anyone visiting in spring. the canal walk during cherry blossom season is insane, way less crowded than ueno or shinjuku gyoen. plus there's a killer onigiri spot called Onigiri Bongo that sells out by noon, and the area has a ton of tiny wine bars and vintage shops. rooms at the Claska hotel start around $120 and it's a quick hop to shibuya on the tokyu line

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solid write-up, covers the big ones well. for my money, if you're a food nerd, staying near a good tsukemen or ramen spot is a legit strategy. i booked a hotel in takadanobaba once just cause i wanted to be walking distance from Taishoken, the tsukemen birthplace. that area is also full of student bars and cheap eats since Waseda Uni is there, rooms at the b:CONTE hotel run like $90 a night and it's two stops from Shinjuku on the Yamanote. way less tourist crush than Shibuya for late-night bowls

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This is a solid breakdown, really covers the main bases well. One thing I'd add for anyone staying in Shinjuku is that the station itself can be overwhelming even for locals, so picking a hotel on the west side near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is a good hack. The views from the free observation deck there are just as good as the paid ones, and you avoid the chaos of the east exit. For cheap eats in that area, the basement floor of Takashimaya department store has incredible takeout bento boxes under 1,000 yen that beat most convenience store meals.

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