and today we're exploring Sangenjaya

Sangenjaya is in the Setagaya ward in south-west Tokyo

it is only a five minute train ride away from Shibuya station

yet it has a completely different atmosphere.

It's a calmer old neighbourhood in Tokyo

and has a lot of interesting streets and unique shops.

Today I'll be showing you one of my favourite cafes in this area,

free views of Tokyo from up high,

and also the hidden back-alleys where you can enjoy

the best local experience of Japanese drinking and eating

So are you guys ready to check out this area with me?

The first place I went to was this coffee shop called Komeda Coffee.

They have more than 400 branches across Japan

and it is a very popular coffee shop amongst the locals

so sometimes you might have to write your name down

and wait a little before they call you.

It has a comfortable atmosphere so it's a great place

to come alone or with others.

And when you come to Japan most places will give you

this Oshibori, a wet hand towel, to wipe your hands before you eat

I get so use to this that I miss not getting it when I'm overseas

There's a lot to choose from but Komeda Coffee is

famous for their sandwiches.

The food sold here is also a very typical breakfast meal for Japanese

Their sweets and coffee's are also very popular here.

I wasn't too hungry so I decided to get the egg bun

and when you're ready to order just press the bell and they will come

So this is what it looked like

Komeda Coffee cuts up the egg and mixes it with Japanese mayonnaise

which makes it taste really good

and actually egg and mayonnaise is a typical filling

in Japanese sandwiches.

So now let's walk and see the free view

from the tallest tower in this area

Sangenjaya has a few shopping streets where the locals

go to do their everyday shopping

It has many different shops so it's very convenient

to find what you're looking for.

It's really interesting

the Japanese infrastructure is really different.

and it's so cramped, all these little back alleys

they hardly have any gardens

so you know, what do the kids do?

I mean, when I was a kid I loved to play in the garden

but then again I'm from New Zealand

so that's all we had, like nature and all that stuff

Ah the typhoon is coming, look how windy this is

I personally love local areas, as you know,

but I also want to show them to people, you know

because a lot of people, they don't know how to find it

especially if you're a tourist in Tokyo

I can see where I'm taking you guys now

So this is the building

It's free to see a view of Tokyo

It's completely free

but it's not so well known

It's called The Carrot Tower, i'm not too sure why

because it doesn't look like a carrot to me.

Now we're in the building and we're going to the 26th floor

Now take the elevator to the 26th floor

and the elevator should be pretty straight forward to find

So we are here on the 26th floor

and thank god it's not raining because it's typhoon season but

ah you probably can't see it, it's too bright

right, let me fix that

When you first exit the elevator on your left you'll see this view

You can see Shinjuku skyscrapers in the background

and this is what it looks like when you first enter

they have a lot of big windows for you to see the view

a lot of people also buy lunch and bring it up to eat here

You can see the local neighbourhood and the city in the near distance

There are also affordable cafes here

And if you have a meal at this restaurant

you can enjoy the views of Skytree and Tokyo Tower

So near the tower we were just in

there is actually a cool little alley way

filled with small interesting restaurants and Japanese bars.

thats so cool

These alley-ways are called 'Yokocho' in Japanese

and they can be found all over Japan.

When you walk down these alley-ways, it takes you back in time

and it has an old, traditional Japanese atmosphere to it.

The shops here are smaller than average

as it builds a cosy atmosphere for you

and the other customers and the shop staff

to be able to eat and have conversations.

There are also some pretty interesting and hidden away shops

so go explore and see what you can find.

The Yokocho I just showed you guys now

is more of the, what do you call it?

the standard one, that most people would know

but the one I am at now is more for the locals who live in this area

and it looks like a lot of these shops have been going on

ah, have been running for a long time

A lot of them aren't open yet but look how small they are

So at night these shops would be full of people

and have a fun atmosphere

and it's also a great way to experience drinking and eating like the locals

Also there are a lot of different kinds of foods for you to try out and eat

And I love how some shops you can just eat on the streets while everyone is walking past

So if you want to have a night out and drink and eat the locals way

definitely check this area out.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this video of the Hidden Spots series

and I will be doing much more of these so if you're coming to Tokyo

I hope you can add more and more onto your list

and if you're not coming to Tokyo i hope you can just see a different side of Tokyo

so yeah, I hope to show a lot more of those on my channel here

and people are kind of looking at me like a weirdo

because I'm sitting on these swirly stairs and taking a video talking to my camera, obviously

AAHH OH My god the bugs are on me!

oh my god that scared the hell out of me

holy crap

I hope you guys enjoyed this video

please leave a comment down below about some other videos you guys would like to see me do

and I will see you in the next video