Kichijoji comes top of the list of places Tokyo residents say they want to live, and it has done for years. The reason is not complicated. It has a proper shopping district, some of the best casual eating in the city, and a large park with a lake at the end of the high street, all within a fifteen minute walk of the station.

It sits twenty minutes from Shibuya on the Inokashira Line and fifteen from Shinjuku on the Chuo, which makes it easy to reach and easy to underrate. The route below runs north of the station first, crosses to the south side for lunch, and finishes in the park.

The main entrance to Kichijoji Station with crowds outside

Need to Know

  • From Shibuya: about 20 minutes on the Keio Inokashira Line
  • From Shinjuku: about 15 minutes on the JR Chuo Line
  • Cost: the park and the shopping streets are free, the zoo is a small fee at the gate
  • How long: a full day, or half if you skip the park
  • Best for: eating, browsing, and an afternoon by the water

💡 Tips Pro Jepang: Do the eating first and the park second, not the other way round. The queues at the best places here form before noon and are gone by mid afternoon, while the park is at its best in the late afternoon light.

Lunch First: Hikiniku to Come

Hikiniku to Come is the restaurant that made Kichijoji a destination for people who do not live here. Charcoal grilled hamburg steaks, cooked in front of you and served over rice, in a small room with Showa era city pop playing loudly.

Hamburg steaks cooking on a charcoal grill in front of diners

Getting in is the hard part. You either queue early in the morning for a same day ticket, or you book online weeks ahead. There is no walking in at one o’clock and being seated.

💡 Tips Pro Jepang: Decide about this restaurant before you plan the rest of the day, because it dictates everything else. If you are not prepared to queue or book ahead, skip it and go to Iseya on the south side instead, which takes no reservation at all.

The Kichijoji Shopping Arcades and Petit Mura

North of the station, Sunroad and Diamond Street run as covered arcades, glass roofed and open in any weather. They are a genuine mix rather than a tourist strip: old butchers selling croquettes next to clothing shops, tea sellers, a hundred yen store and a drugstore.

Shoppers in the glass roofed Sunroad covered arcade

A few streets off the arcades is Kichijoji Petit Mura, a small cluster of buildings done up as a storybook village, with curved plaster walls, a cat cafe and a handful of tiny shops. It is unapologetically twee and it is also unlike anything else in the neighbourhood.

Curved plaster archway at the entrance to the Petit Mura storybook village
Carved tree and cat relief on a plaster wall at Petit Mura

For something to take home, Paper Message sells Japanese paper goods, letter sets, cards and stationery, made by small producers. It is the best souvenir shop in the neighbourhood by a distance.

The Paper Message stationery shopfront on a Kichijoji side street

South of the Station: Iseya Sohonten

Cross under the tracks to the south side and Iseya Sohonten is on the corner: a dark timber yakitori house with red lanterns and smoke coming out of it, which has been there for decades and charges accordingly little.

The dark timber corner building of the Iseya Sohonten yakitori restaurant

Grilled skewers, cold beer, no reservations and no ceremony. It sits directly between the station and the park entrance, which makes it the obvious stop before you go into the greenery.

Inokashira Park

The park entrance is a two minute walk from Iseya and the change is immediate: dense trees, a long pond and paths running around it. Inokashira Park is one of the best parks in Tokyo and the reason a lot of people move to Kichijoji in the first place.

Inokashira Pond surrounded by dense green trees

You can rent a swan boat on the pond, which is the thing everyone does and is worth doing once. Benzaiten Shrine sits on a small island reached by a bridge, and at weekends the paths fill with buskers, painters and people selling handmade things off blankets.

Swan boats and rowing boats on Inokashira Pond in Kichijoji

Inokashira Park Zoo is inside the park too, small, cheap and aimed squarely at children. There is no need to book, you buy at the gate.

The ticket gate at the entrance to Inokashira Park Zoo

💡 Tips Pro Jepang: There is a local superstition that couples who ride the swan boats together will break up, said to be the doing of the goddess enshrined on the island. Nobody takes it seriously and everybody mentions it.

What to Do Next

Follow the wooded paths to the far end of the park and you come out in Mitaka, which puts the Ghibli Museum within walking distance. Tickets are dated, timed and sell out well ahead, so that is not a spontaneous stop.

One stop back down the Chuo Line is the museum in Koganei, which has thirty historic buildings rebuilt on one site, and the Tokyo bucket list covers the rest of the city in walkable chunks. How good the park looks depends entirely on the season, so the best time to visit Japan is worth a look first.

FAQ

Is Kichijoji worth visiting?

Yes. It is consistently voted the most desirable neighbourhood to live in Tokyo, and the reasons translate well to a day visit: covered shopping arcades, excellent cheap food and a large park with a lake, all walkable from one station.

How do you get to Kichijoji?

The Keio Inokashira Line from Shibuya takes about twenty minutes and the JR Chuo Line from Shinjuku about fifteen. Both terminate at the same station and the neighbourhood is walkable from either exit.

How long do you need in Kichijoji?

A full day if you want the arcades, lunch and Inokashira Park properly. Half a day covers the shopping and a meal. Add time if you are queuing for Hikiniku to Come.

Can you combine Kichijoji with the Ghibli Museum?

Yes, they are connected by the walking paths through Inokashira Park, about twenty minutes end to end. Ghibli Museum tickets are dated and timed and sell out well in advance, so book that first and build the Kichijoji day around the slot.

What should you eat in Kichijoji?

Hikiniku to Come for charcoal grilled hamburg steak if you are willing to queue or book ahead, and Iseya Sohonten on the south side for cheap yakitori with no reservation. The arcades north of the station are also full of croquettes and street snacks.