Azabu-Juban is in Minato-ku of Tokyo and it is famous for its shopping street. To make a comfortable and familiar environment for the city, Azabu-Juban has made a “Juban Rule”, and working to develop the city further.

There are hardly any garbage on the streets and the signs are small so they are no it the way and it did feel like it was easy to walk. I decided to walk from Azabu-Juban towards Roppongi.

First is the Azabu-Juban main street right outside the subway station. It is the largest and most prosperous part of the shopping street.

As soon as I started walking the shopping street, there is a Sushi shop that sells unique menus. It was before lunch but I decided to buy it.

This is the Grilled Salmon Halas ROLL. Roppongi is located in the heart of Tokyo so there are many customers from foreign countries. Other than the regular sushi, they also had such unique sushi. Of course it tasted good! There were many other menus so if you like sushi, please try them.

There are many old-fashioned sweets shops, furniture shops, and general stores in the shopping street with an at-home atmosphere.

This is the main store of an old bean sweets shop called “Mamegen”. It started because the first owner in 1865, called Genbei, sold bean sweets in this place.

He was popular and was called “Mameya no Genbei” (Genbei of Beans). Visitors can the people making Okaki in the shop. There are varieties of bean sweets and it is fun to choose your favorite.

Next I would introduce the Naniwaya Souhonten that sells Taiyaki. It was established in 1909 and the shop that first made Taiyaki. Taiyaki that became familiar to everyone today was first made here. This model of the famous song “Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun” is the Taiyaki from this shop.

In the shop was hot, and it seemed like a craftsman’s work place. However, the workers there were friendly and treated us nicely. Many taiyaki quickly and carefully made by such workers are sold in the shop.

There also is a cafe in the shop and customers can eat the Taiyaki there.
The Taiyaki was packed with hot and sweet bean paste and was surrounded by thin and crunchy bread.

There is a Hamburger restaurant called “Homework’s” after walking on the main street towards Roppongi and making a right.

You can enjoy tasty and large earnest hamburgers here. You can choose the size of the of the meat, the type of cheese, and the sauce so there are many choices and all them looked very nice. They do deliveries to close places so it is worth a try. It is big so it does make you full. I’m sure you can have a pleasant lunch time on the terrace seats.

I ate Soba for lunch. Sarashina Horii Souhonkei was established in 1789 (The year of the French revolution). It does have a lot of history. It was popular amongst the people of Edo for its elegant taste, and it was also allowed entry to the Edo castle and Feudal lord residences.

The shop had a calm atmosphere and since it was lunch time, it was packed with customers. The energetic voice of the hostess and can feel the downtown atmosphere. I was first overwhelmed with the power of the hostess but she was a very warm women.

It seemed like the “Sarashina Soba” was ordered very often. Unlike regular soba, the noodle was shite. I ordered the “Kawari Soba” which mixed the “Sarashina Soba” and a seasonal foodstuff. Depending on the season, they use things such as citron and wormwood and can enjoy various tastes. Feeling the season with the food is a Japanese culture.

The slightly transparent and strong noodle had nice texture and I felt like I understood why the feudal lords liked it. There were two noodle soups, sweet and spicy, and I preferred the Sweet soup.

It is also fun walking around the sideway, and not only the main street, since there are many unique shops.

I found an interesting sign on the street that runs vertically with the main street. It is the Kurayami-zaka (Darkness slope). It used to be surrounded completely with trees and that made the slope dark. It makes you want to see the slope from that time.

■Related Post
*Azabu-Juban walking guide Part2