Shopping In Tokyo

A little more difficult to find addresses at night — you may want to scope the place out during the day time or just have an adventure!

• do not ask the Japanese for directions (they seriously won’t be able to help you, even with a map)
• ward – chome – block – building – floor
  • example 1:  B2 31-2 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku (Mandarake Shibuya)
  • example 2:  1-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro 3-chome, Toshima-ku (Sunshine City Prince Hotel Ikebukuro)
• look up, look down and do it again
• B=basement and will precede the basement floor number (i.e. B2 = 2nd floor down)
• F=floor number and will follow the floor number up (i.e. 2F = 2nd floor up)
• Signange is anywhere that will fit

On the Sunshine City Prince Hotel

Have Map, Will Travel

Understand how addresses can be applied to a map. This is not easy at first, but is highly logical once you understand the method. Finding places is accomplished in one of two ways in Tokyo – a map with land marks and labelled streets (when the streets are labelled), and with an actual address. It’s the address that confounds everyone – even those who were born and raised in Tokyo (yes, I’m serious). I joke that only mail carriers are given the divine knowledge of address comprehension, but thankfully the code has been cracked for us non-Japanese.

Map of Shibuya near Mandarake

Now let’s take a practical example. The Mandarake in Shibuya is awesome, and highly recommended for a day trip (or several day trips). Its address is: B2 31-2 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Grab the Tokyo City Atlas, flip to the Shibuya section, and find the subarea of Shibuya (the chome) called Udagawacho. Great, now look for the 31st block. That’s your ticket. After that, it’s a matter of circling the block until you find Building Number 2 (the “B” indicates basement), but honestly, most buildings don’t have numbers. You MAY find a placard near the building (maybe even ON the building if you’re lucky) with the address, but this could be in any location and are there to aid the new mail carriers who’ve been inducted into the auspicious position of mail delivery.

And don’t think the building numbers are in any sequential order, because they’re not. Blocks are relatively small in Tokyo, so a circle around the block is all that may be required. Don’t be frustrated if you find you need to spend some time deciphering signage.  If you understand the address and block system, there’s a good chance you have found the right building — you just need to investigate stairwells, side alleys and so on.

Building Placards

Every building should have a placard, but they are not always easy to locate.  These are what the mail carriers use to deliver mail.  And they look like this:

A building in Ikebukuro

All right, that’s well and good, but what does it mean?  Toshima-ku is the ward.  Higashi-Ikebukuro 4 is the chome.  27 is the block.  And 17 is the building.  So now let’s dig out our Tokyo City Atlas and translate that.  Where was I when I took this photo?

Tokyo City Atlas map of the area

As you can see, there are a number of chome called Higashi-Ikebukuro, each with a numbered suffix.  And each of these chome are split up into blocks.  You will see that block 27 in Higashi-Ikebukuro 4 is right next to the Seiyu.  I walk past this spot many times.  Now, are there really 17 buildings crammed into block 27?  Who knows.  As I said — there is no rhyme nor reason to the building numbers, so look for these placards to help you out if you can’t read the shop signage.

In Conclusion

You will likely start with an address (i.e. B2 31-2 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku).  You will find it on the Tokyo City Atlas.  You will then look for the closest train station (noting the closest exit number).  You will then flip to the front of the Tokyo City Atlas, find the destination station and plot a course from your current position or where you will be when you wish to go to your destination.  Once you arrive near your destination, you will use the Tokyo City Atlas and your keen eyesight to look for building placards to let you know what block and building you are at.  And eventually, you will find exactly what you are looking for.