The Otsuka area may appear to be nothing more than the Yamanote line stop before Ikebukuro, but it is the home of both a Michelin restaurant, a Gunnes Book of Records world record holding restaurant, and a historic shrine that combines altars for eight different gods.
This is where you can change from the Yamanote line to the Sakura Tram, but the Yamanote line stop next to Ikebukuro has a lot more to offer than the quirky shitamachi trolley. Even if riding the streetcar through the cherry blossoms, or past hydrangea so lush you will mistake them for reflections of the ocean; or through the fall colors that light up the Tokyo streets even after a rain.
Otsuka may not be the destination on top of your mind when you take the Yamanote line, but this is a much more eclectic destination than the stations between it and Ueno. The residential feeling is still there, so it still has the small-city vibe of Tabata and Sugamo, even though Otsuka is quite close to the big city feel of Ikebukuro.
The area is also the location for one of the biggest dance festivals in Tokyo. In August, during the Obon week, the streets fill up with dancers for the Awa Odori, which is as much a dance competition between local businesses as it is a public event. The August heatwaves of recent years have curbed the event somewhat, as physical exertion – even dance – in 40 degree centigrade heat can lead to sunstroke and worse. But barring that, the dancing and the surrounding food stalls are pretty much what a Japanese summer festival is about.
The Otsuka neighborhood retains the Showa retro, but modern style is creeping in, massaging the neighborhood into an eclectic mix. You can see it in the shopping alley south of the station, a quirky warren of shops (often on the second floor). There are wagashiya making dorayaki fresh in the morning, and brewpubs making German-style Rauchbier, fresh although not made the same morning. And this is a modern Tokyo neighborhood – Indian restaurants mix with Japanese curry restaurants and Vietnamese supermarkets. There is even an electronics store (selling used and refurbished luxury electronics) especially for Vietnamese.
The area south of the Otsuka station is also host to a Michelin-starred restaurant, and not just any restaurant – but a ramen restaurant. It was the first ramen restaurant in the world to be awarded a star in the Guide Michelin, but it was not the last. Nakiryu, as the restaurant is called, was the surprise awardee of a Michelin star. It certainly does not confirm to the posh and even haute image of Michelin-starred restaurants – the shop is located in an alleyway, in typical Japanese fashion. But if you manage to get a ticket (line up early – and I do mean EARLY) you can enjoy some of the best ramen in the world for lunch.
But that is not the only remarkable dining place in Otsuka. Leandro is a small restaurant and bar north of Otsuka station, holding a Guiness world record – for the best and most kinds of wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira in the world. You can get a tasting set if you are curious about these perhaps not so well known wines, which are much more mature and richer than their mainland port cousins. The food accompanying the wines is unlikely to compete for a world record, however, satisfying and filling though it is.
That is not the end of the specialty stores around Otsuka. A few blocks to the south of the south exit of Otsuka Yamanote line station there is a store which the Tokyo athletes are making a point of visiting. The Asahi Archery store has everything archery, but especially kyodo (Japanese archery). It is a quite popular sport. There are kyodo courts in many parks, and you often see groups of athletes going home on the trains, their bows wrapped in colorful cloth, carefully threading them onto the train.
The body may get its due in the restaurants, but Otsuka offers more than your usual Tokyo neighborhood on the spiritual plane. No, not in the shape of ghosts or yokai (supernatural beings), but in the shape of locations for worship.
For muslims looking for a place to perform jummah prayers, the Ohtsuka neighborhood south of the station is where you will find one of the few Tokyo mosques. It is not big but if you are looking for a place for prayer in Tokyo and happen to be in the neighborhood, this is a good choice. Most of the members are locals, but visitors are welcomed.
Unusually, there are no temples to the south of Otsuka station, perhaps due to the presence of Gokokuji a few hundred meters to the south. This is one of the most famous and well-preserved temples in Tokyo (and one with the fewest tourists), and the huge Zoshigaya Cemetery also makes unnecessary the traditional task of temples – to provide burial grounds. The cemetery was created by merging several temple cemeteries to create space for the burials of other than buddhist, since the number of believers in other religions exploded after the Meji restauration, when Japan got freedom of religion at the same time as Shinto was made into the national religion (thanks to its focus on emperor worship).
Just south of Otsuka station is the former protective shrine of Sugamo village, founded long before Edo was planned, by the lord of the Toshima clan (the ward where both Otsuka and Ikebukuro is located is still called Toshima ward).
The Tenso shrine was founded more than 700 years ago, and celebrated its anniversary with a huge festival in 2024, with more than a hundred portable altars (mikoshi) parading through the streets. The shrine festival is held every year in September and October, not quite as grand as the 700th anniversary, but still worth visiting if you happen to be in Tokyo at the time. There are smaller festivals in April, May, and June.
The shrine is unusual in another way too. There is not just one, but four shrines on the grounds. Apart from the Otsuka Tenso shrine which is sanctified to Amaterasu Ookami, the goddess who gave birth to the Japanese islands, there are eight shrines co-located in the same building on the grounds: Itsukushima Shrine (厳島社) Kumano Shrine (熊野社), the goddess who gave birth to the land of Japan and is the goddess of childbirth; and Sugawara Shrine 菅原社 (dedicated to the god of learning). There are also shrines to Haniyahime (the godfess of clay, earthenware and purified earth); emperor Yamato Takeru, the fox goddess Inari, and mt Fuji. The latter shrine faces mt Fuji, although nowadays there are too many tall buildings in the way to see it.
