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want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Lost in Translation?
i'd actually recommend picking up a physical suica card at a station ticket machine before you get deep into naitomachi. you can reload it with cash and it works for trains, buses, and even some vending machines or conbini purchases without needing a phone. the card itself is just a tap, no language barrier there.
for the analog vibe, the neighborhood's small shrines make good navigation markers. there's a tiny one called naitomachi inari shrine near the coordinate you mentioned, tucked between houses with a red torii gate that's easy to spot. if you get turned around on the backstreets, heading uphill generally points you toward yotsuya station or the shuto expressway, which is a reliable reference point.
the real trick is that the area's street lamps have small metal plates with the neighborhood name in kanji and block number, and they're placed at every intersection. if you memorize which chome you're in from your map, those plates will keep you from wandering too far off course without needing to pull out anything
another thing that helps is the neighborhood's mailboxes. theyre bright red and have the chome number printed on them in big white numbers, so if you know your block from the map you can triangulate pretty fast. theres one at almost every intersection in naitomachi.
for getting your bearings when the lanes all look the same, look for the old wooden houses with tile roofs. most of the newer buildings are concrete but the pre-war ones cluster in specific spots, like near the naitomachi park about 3 blocks east of your coordinate. the park itself is tiny but has a bench and a public toilet, good reset point if you need to sit down and figure out your next move
also the convenience stores here do sell paper maps but theyre usually the tokyo-wide ones. better to grab a proper walker map from the yotsuya station bookstore, 150 yen and it shows every single footpath including the ones that cut between buildings
yeah naitomachi is perfect for analog exploring, the winding backstreets are half the fun. one thing that helps is knowing the chome system - addresses are block numbers, not street names, so look for the little chome signs on utility poles or building corners. those will match up with your paper map way better than trying to find a street sign.
for getting around without gps, just keep an eye out for landmarks like the shuto expressway pillars or the yotsuya fire station near the station. the area has a surprising amount of old sento (public baths) scattered around too, like kagurazaka yuya about 15 min north. they're cheap, like 500 yen, and a good way to reset if you feel turned around from walking.
honestly the biggest hurdle is that naitomachi's small grocery stores and pharmacies might not have the convenience store maps everyone suggests. just grab a detailed walker map from a bookshop near yotsuya station, the kind with every alley marked. it folds down small enough for a pocket
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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.