A village-scale shopping street ten minutes downhill from Roppongi, where embassies and old family shops share the pavements. Azabu-Juban has sold rice crackers, taiyaki and soba to Tokyo’s wealthy since the Edo period, and the opening of the Azabudai Hills towers on its edge has only sharpened the contrast between the low-rise lanes and the glass around them. The street is mixed in a way few neighbourhoods are: a 1920s confectioner next to a French bakery next to a public bathhouse.
Walk its length from the station, snacking as you go, then climb into the back streets for the small temples and the Azabudai Hills viewing platforms. It is the civilised way to end a Roppongi evening.
Tips
- Naniwaya Sohonten has baked taiyaki, fish-shaped pastries filled with bean paste, since 1909 and the queue moves quickly
- Tanuki Senbei's rice crackers, grilled in the shop, are the local gift
- The Noryo Matsuri festival in late August packs the streets with food stalls from across Japan