Reload is a two-storey village of white boxes built in 2021 on the land freed when the Odakyu line was buried, a few minutes north of Shimokitazawa Station. Its 24 units hold a coffee laboratory, a tea stand, a barber, a record shop, a Japanese knife maker and a handful of small fashion labels, arranged around open stairs and a lane that continues as a greenway toward Setagaya-Daita.
It is the tidy counterpoint to Shimokita’s chaos and the best place to start a morning in the neighborhood: coffee at Ogawa, a wander through the shops as they open, then the walk along the railway promenade to Bonus Track and its outdoor tables. Come back in the evening for the craft beer.
Tips
- Ogawa Coffee Laboratory, the Kyoto roaster's experimental shop, is the anchor; expect a wait on weekends
- Keep walking south-west along the old railway bed to Bonus Track, a cluster of indie shops, a bookshop-bar and a brewery
- The lane is a shortcut from Higashi-Kitazawa Station, one stop on the Odakyu line, if Shimokita's exits are packed