Sun Mall is the 225-meter covered arcade that links Nakano Station’s north exit to Nakano Broadway, under a glass roof and rows of hanging banners. It is the neighborhood’s main street: drugstores, a ramen shop with a permanent queue, crepe stands, a 100-yen shop, a very old rice-cracker store and the side alleys of standing bars where Chuo-line commuters stop before going home.
Walk it as the approach to Broadway in the afternoon, and come back after dark, when the arcade lights up and the side streets to the east fill with smoke from the yakitori grills. Nakano’s nightlife is cheap, local and crowded by seven on a weeknight; a seat at a counter here is the real end to a day of toy hunting.
Tips
- The alleys off the east side, around Fureai Road, have the yakitori counters and standing bars
- Try the Nakano branch of Aoba, a ramen shop that mixes pork and fish broth, with a queue at lunch
- The arcade connects directly to Nakano Broadway; keep walking straight from the station's north exit