Daikanyama Walking Guide

Start the day with a walk through Kyu Yamate Dori, a great street for a stroll as it's very green and lush and full of trees. Many foreign embassies are located here, as well as street cafes and churches and schools.

Note -- Dori simply means "street" in Japanese.

A 3-minute walk from the Daikanyama Tokyu Toyoko line, Hillside Terrace is one of the most famous buildings in Daikanyama. A combination residential and commercial building, it was designed by Fumihiko Maki in 1967, and has continued growing over the years. It's known for its arresting white geometric design. It was built in several stages between 1967 and 1992, and is a good case-study in urban development and how Japan approaches living in an urban environment. It features museums such as the Hillside Gallery, which hosts many international artists' work, fashionable independent boutiques and also many restaurants. There's even a "Portugal" store featuring food items from the country.

You can even view an ancient burial ground here, called Sarugaku-zuka, built during the 6th and 7th century.

TEL :03-5489-3705
E-mail: Info@Hillsideterrace.com

This cafe features an open air feel with terracotta flooring, antique furniture and open air space where sun can shine in through the beams above. There is a 300 year old zelkova tree in the inner garden, and the place prides itself on feeling like an authentic Italian cafe.

Phone: 03-3770-9517
Address:
29-3 Sarugaku-cho
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo
150-0033
Open 11am - 10:30pm every day.

Okura is a women's clothing boutique filled with organic classic Japanese garments with indigo-dyed fabrics. The results are simple and stunning, and the store itself is decorated with Tokyo Bay planks of driftwood.
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20-11 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, 03-3461-8511

Up and down this street (which is "dori" in Japanese), you'll find many unique shopping complexes filled with fashionable boutiques and cafes. I'm marking this as a point of interest on its own so you know the general direction in which to walk from Daikanyama station, but I will list notable shops separately below. There are tons, and I do mean tons, of shops on this street. Feel free to explore and get lost in the windy alleyways of the area, where you'll hardly recognize that you're in Tokyo and think you might have gotten lost in the Japanese countryside.

You can find designer Tsumori Chisato's funky fashion boutique inside the La Fuente shopping complex on the first floor. Hard to find outside Japan, this makes this designer's shop a popular destination for European and American tourists. While mostly concentrated on women's fashion, you can also find clothing for men.

Telephone: 03-5728-3225
Address (in Japanese)
11-1 Sarugakucho
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo, 150-0033

La Fuente代官山1F

Daikanyama Address is an open air shopping retail complex with designer boutiques, restaurants. If you're here around the holidays, Christmas lights and illumination are quite beautiful here.

Loveless is an indie Japanese designer clothing shop produced by the same company as the store by the same name in Aoyama. The floorspace looks like something out of the future, but omehow the mix of 80s memorabilia and futuristic white marble works.

Telephone: 3 3770 1991
20-23 daikanyama-cho
shibuya-ku, shibuya-ku
Hours: 12pm - 8pm

End the tour with a bite to eat, or a few bites, at Eataly. You don't necessarily come to Japan to have Italian food, but I can tell you first-hand that unless you're going to Italy soon, you'll never have Italian food quite this good. This is the biggest Italian wine and food center in Japan, where visitors can buy high quality food and drink. They host an education center with classes on hand held by renowned chefs. At this center you can also choose from five themed restaurants, two cafe-bars and a gelateria.

Eataly is a 2-minute walk from Daikanyama station.

Phone: 03-5784-2736
20-23 Daikanyama-cho
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo

Bar: 10am - 9:30pm
Market: 10:30am - 9:30pm
Ristoranto: 11am - 3pm lunch; 5:30 - 9pm dinner; 11am - 10pm weekends
Wine bar: 6pm - 11pm Tuesday - Saturday
Closed on Sunday evenings and Monday.