Jan Jan Yokocho Alley

You are in Jan Jan Yokocho, a covered alley about 180 meters long and barely two and a half meters wide. Its official name is Nanyō-dōri, but nobody calls it that.

1A shortcut with history

The alley opened in 1921 to link Shinsekai with the Tobita district to the south. Plenty of people passed through, and the shops did all they could to draw them in. According to the most common explanation, the name comes from the "jan, jan" of the shamisen, the three-stringed lute, played at shop entrances in the early Shōwa period. The writer Hayashi Fumiko helped fix the name in her novel "Meshi", from the early 1950s.

2Kushikatsu and shogi

Today the alley lives on kushikatsu: skewers of meat, seafood or vegetables coated in breadcrumbs and fried to order. They are dipped in a shared sauce, which explains Shinsekai's golden rule: no double dipping. If you want more sauce, use a cabbage leaf as a spoon.

Keep an eye out for the shogi and go parlors: only a few remain, but you can still see locals playing for hours, and onlookers following the games from the street.

For decades Shinsekai had a reputation as a run-down district. Today that down-to-earth, nostalgic atmosphere is exactly what draws visitors.

3What to look for

• The "no double dipping" signs on the counters.
• The shogi parlors with their big windows onto the street.
• The old signs at the arcade entrance.