Shibuya
I think you already have full list a cool stuff here (sushi on railway, cross-path, disney store, ichiran-ramen ...) But here is a few things that would be sad to miss
Tokyu-Hands
A fun shop to discover, prices are OK and with it's 7th floor, It's a good place to find present to all your familly . No doubt you will find funny things like "dry ice-cream for cosmonautes" or an ephemeral shop with a local artist seelings his draws .
Mandarake
Close from Tokyu-Hands, there is this shop for vintage toys, anime (typicaly what you would expect in Akihabara) It's worth a visit just for the path to enter the shop (underground ...)
You can focus on the old manga, the difference beetween modern and old books is fascinating
Yoyogi's dogs (only if you like dogs)
You probably have seen the pictures with the temple, the big arch entry, the sake's bottles ... and you probably should visit all of them
But there one more place to go, 15 minutes walking from the entry, there is a 3 squares delimited area
( -5kg, -12kg, +10kg )
People will bring their dogs in a roughly 1000 m² and let them run & play with each others
Don't underestimate the potentional spectacles you can attend.
Pack of 5 shibas being prosecuted by a pug, a dog that can't resist to make a overwhelming to all the dog's owner he meets, and to finish a man bring his three whippets all dressed in reindeer ...
After going to the sport, we often took food-to-go and eat in front on this natural TV, great memories
Oreryu Shio Ramen Jingu-mae
My favorite place to eat in Shibuya whas this ramen shop, I brought some peoples here and they were all satisfied
My advice, specially if it's hot, take the Oreryu Yuzu Shio-Ramen>(Yuzu Lemon & Salt) and order it in Tsukemen (cold pasta on the side)
Settagaya
This is a more a residential area, if you are lucky, you might be on the same day as a community event
Like the Boro-ichi dori (15th & 16th december) the annual flea-market
there will be a stand in front of this english school (my wife worked there, the owner Aruko is a fantastic person and she speak english, might be your best option to have a discussion with a japanese)
On this stand You could buy manga , pokemon cards and fun toys for 10yen (≈0,80€)
perfect for a present to people you don't want to spend money
kami-machi
kami-machi has a special place in my hearth, this is where I lived
you will have to go there if you want to visit the famous Gōtoku-ji
you can reach it by a tramway from sagenjaya-station to kamimachi-station"">(you will go throught small houses, it's cool)
there is also a bus who do shibuya - sagenjaya - kamimachi - [...] From Shibuya, the bus stop is really close from Mr Bean (now you know how I discovered it)
Gōtoku-ji
You must have seen some pictures of this temple, it's supposed to be the origin of the story of the maneki-neko (waiving cat) wikipedia article>
it's inside wall, so please check the timetable before ( 8h00 -> 16h00 when we were there)
The little park
Just before arriving to Gōtoku-ji, there is this really little park with stairs, it's supposed to be the rest of an old casstle ... please go on the top, sit on a bench a have a nice view of this area
(do not sit in summer, too much mosquitoes ...)
In spring you can have a look at the ants in the stones, they are much biger compared to the one we have in Europe.
sangenjaya
Sagen-Jaya might not surprised you as other quartier
This area is nearly only frequented by Locals, wich have a authentic flavour
You might pass by this station for any reason, if this is the case, it's a good stop !
carrot tower
Yep, it's doesn't look like a carrot ...
On the 1 floor you will have some cute food shops
On the 2nd floor, after taking the stairs, a book shop your right and a "paper" shop on your left
Continue straigth to take the elevator, inside you will have the choice beetween
[1] - [2] and [26] ... this is where you go
You will enter in a free lounge area where you can have a drink/food and sit next to the multiple windows to check the view ...
you will have a really cool image of the "japan architecture" you can spend a lot of times just spoting all the curiosities ... pink house, swimming pool on top of building, tramway road inside residential area
ramen sangen jaya
I applied for jobs during 1 month since the first day I arrived (try-hard mode)
One meeting went pretty well the 24th December and they told me they will give me an answer soon.
Two weeks later, on my birthday, I received an email "why are you not here" ...
I took the only crapy bike we had and rode like a crazy to be there as soon as possible, lot of emotions and new things for a first day
When I came home, my wife conducted me to this ramen-shop,
might be because of the context (and also my 1st ramen in Japan after haveen been watch Naruto eat 100k bowls) it was magical and I hope you will find it as good as it was in my memory
candy-shop
Just in front of the building, there is this nice destockage sweets.
Good occasion to try one of the billions variations of kit-kat you missed
walk street
typical nice street to walk, with a village-vangard at the end !
If you go inside, go upstair and locate the books area (not the manga !)
There is a volumous book with title "megapolis" an artist imagined a world where all the animals you know are giant, enjoy §:3
shimokitazawa
This area is famous for his vintage/second hand shop. It's also the local cool place where japanese enjoy their free time
village vangarde
This is one of the biggest of his kind, it's more like a geek/ fun things to buy in Japan. They have limited edition sometimes, it was Digimon for me. I think it much better to buy present than don-quichote, it has less the "alie-express" aura and and you will really by surprised on each allee of this store
thrift shop
As I like to dress like a potato-bag, I will let my wife explain this chapter
boxing club (hajime no hippo)
When you walk on this street, you will have the view of the inside of this boxing gym. If you enjoyed the manga "Hajime No Ippo" you will feel this vibe of hard-working people.
awa dori festival
It's happening In the middle of august, and let's be clear you CAN'T miss this if you are there
During the day you will see a lot of people with music instruments, dressing kinda traditional ...
When the night fall, theses peoples all regroup (by quartier if I understood well ?) and start to sing and dance in the street, following a path
It's august, even it's night, it's hot ! You will see this people giving their maximum for their prestation. Resting at some place for the water like's sportive do on break. It was fantastic to watch !
The street will also be animated by a lot of street-food stand
Egyptian
"What ?! Egyptian food in Japan ?!"
This restaurant is handle by a Japanese and her Egyptian husband
Mix the "mot pour dire on fait les choses bien" of Japan with the flavours of Orient and you will have a delicious result
My advice if to take a Falafel (or Shwarma if you prefer meat) with multiple side bowls ( Humus, Babaganouch) and Pitas
hakihabara
This is originaly a place to find all electronics you need (old-school alibaba)
Today it's more geek oriented and you will have the choice to visit the numerous stores to contain all your childhoods needs
Akihabara Radiokaikan
If I had to choose one building I would pick this one.
7th differents floors with I can't remember how many little shops inside ... prices were very OK for Akihabara .
You will find unknows digimon, 350€ Nanachi figurine, 90' beast-wars, waifu pillow (I won't judge you) ...
Super potato
Enter inside the side streets, not far from where all the cosplays girls want to give you flyers.
(It's also one of the only spot to park your bike)
Here is Super potato !
You will have 2 floors of vintage game-console for everybodies ... playstation 1, dreamcast, jaguar, atari, n64 ...
You can also find controllers, old manuals, gadget linked ...
If you like playing, this is a mandatory spot
Softmap
Not far, you can enter this gaming-store (only modern this time)
You can sit on one of the free access PC to play games ... You just need to connect to your account (riot, steam ...) and enjoy somes of the most modern machine (warning might be crowded by the young people off the school schedule)
If you prefer multiplayer, there is 2 joystick pads to play stree-fighter
(legend says this is the last time this person smiled playing with me)
Finaly, you can try a huge 8 screen plateform-simulation (chair in spaceship style) where staff will invite you to play if you look intersted
Ramen
This is where we eat everytimes in Akihabara. (this ramen style is more fat & heavier, might be not appropriate in summer ...)
Don't forget to add an extra egg (tamago 卵) when buying your ticket on the machine
This is a picture I took
