Cool Japan: Nakano Koenji

■Cool Japan: Nakano Koenji 

NHK Cool Japan "Nakano Koenji" edition.

"Live House"

Young musicians and artists choose cities with low rent and low living costs.

At the same time, I don't want to move away from the city center, where information is sourced.

Nakano and Koenji are perfect places.

When people of these kinds of races come together, individuality and culture are born, and they begin to attract many different kinds of people.

This creates a virtuous cycle as it attracts foreigners and the number of accommodations catering to them increases.

Hostels are wall-less, sharing economy-like places, and they also serve as a receptacle for such new values.

"Secondhand clothing store"

There is probably no other town in the world with 150 stores gathered together.

I usually wear second-hand kimonos and I love second-hand clothing, so I thoroughly search for cheap, high-quality items.

The charm of second-hand clothing is the unique items you find there, making them a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Koenji is a town of individuality where mass production doesn't suit it.

You can search there and find a unique item that you like. It's fascinating.

"Restaurants"

I like the friendliness of the many shopping streets.

It's not a chain store, but rather a tightly packed collection of independent shops.

It's full of individuality. This is also the charm of being a one-of-a-kind item.

They offer a wide variety of cuisines from around the world, including Japanese, Western, Chinese and Asian cuisine, and the quality is very high.

We make it even more delicious than the original.

The great thing about Japan is that there are no bad stores, even if they are cheap.

"Broadway"

I'm interested in plastic models. I want to go.

The reason why Nakano and Koenji have such a strong affinity with subculture is because they are close to the city center and have low land prices.

This is largely due to the fact that there are many anime production companies and many young comedians, musicians and other people who are sensitive to subculture live there.

With this in mind, a secondhand bookstore specializing in manga opened in Nakano Broadway in 1980, and at the time it was just a six-story store.

It gradually expanded, and then specialty shops aimed at enthusiasts began to open one after another around the store, until it came to be known as a mecca for subculture.

Its geographical conditions and accumulated history have nurtured this miraculous city.

There are also plans to turn the former Nakano Sun Plaza site into an even larger Otaku City.

The number of inbound otaku will continue to increase.

Just right.

It's not too big a city, but it's not too rural either, and it's compact.

The food, music and art are all high quality,

The warmth of people still remains.

A lovely town with just the right amount of charm.