It saddens me that Sugamo is as overlooked as it is on the busy visitors’ schedule.  I can understand why, with all the other options available.  Most come to Japan seeking the attractive hip young crowd not the fractured hip old crowd. 

    Sugamo, however, is worth the visit.  Particularly during the three time monthly festival held on Toginukijizo Dori (Street).  It is held on every 4th, 14th and 24th as the number 4 is of special significance for Japanese.  Much like the number 13 in the West, this number has some bad connotations.  As a result, you will never find a real estate agent or a jewelry shop on the fourth floor of a building in Japan.

One of the particularly nice things you could pick up here is a mix of spices called “shichimi.” (pictured right)  The seven spice mix is used on top of all types of dishes, particularly soba and rice bowls.  This makes for a fun and memorable souvenir.  Good especially for those with an interest in Japanese food.

Another interesting vendor to be found is the Tsukemono sellers.  These small booths specialize in a type of preserving that uses soy-sauce and sugar.  This is a traditional Tokyo item that originated in the Tsukishima area in the south east of Tokyo, though now this highly snack-able preparation can be found all over Japan.  Pretty much everything can be made into Tsukemono, but particular favorites are small sea life like tiny fish or konbu seaweed.  Also check out tsukemono grasshoppers known as “Inago.”  They are not nearly as scary as you might imagine, and once you get past the idea of it, you may just have found yourself a new snack for the movie theaters.  Bye bye Junior Mints, hello crunchy cricket. (pictured right) 

    Another must see in Sugamo is the Toginuki Jizo Temple.  Just in front of the Temple, you’ll find a small Jizo statue (pictured left).  It is a small stone representation meant for aiding those who are physically afflicted.  By washing the corresponding afflicted area of the statue it is said you will find relief.  Not sure if it works myself, but there sure are plenty of elderly nearby to attest to its popularity.  Don’t be shy.  Get in line and seek relief from that hangover you picked up drinking nihonshu the day before.  Just in case, you’ll notice there is an AED defibrillator located nearby.  One supposes it is there just in case the pilgrim is beyond the help of the merciful Jizo Statue.

IN THIS VIDEO you’ll see a quick tour of Sugamo during the “Yon No Hi” (4th Day Festival) as well as edible grasshoppers and holy buddha statues.

   On the festival day you will find the road commonly called, in short, Jizo-Dori (pictured left), leading from the station, past the Toginuki temple, filled with street vendors trying to offload all kinds of merchandise particularly aimed at the elderly crowd.  This does, however, allow for all kinds of great shopping opportunities.

    Other forms of non-traditional medical support abound. They range from the obvious flim-flammery of an automated palm-reading device that is really, from what I can tell, just a very haggard looking photocopier (pictured right) and an entrepreneur with no sense of shame, to the more traditional flim-flammery of magic beads and tokens.  Though whether or not the sale of hope for the elderly and infirm is completely without merit is a debate for a website dedicated to religion.  To what extent anyone actually believes any of this stuff works I’m not so convinced.  Though certainly it would be nice to believe that these things had the power they are said to hold.  

    Before there was Viagra, there was mamushi (pictured right). A snake commonly found in southern Japan, it has been used in dried form or soaked in liquor to, well... aid the active male.  

    Though people visit Sugamo in droves, particularly on the festival days when the hawkers set up their stalls, I’m of the opinion they come for the shopping, not the snake oil.  While most of the items you will find in Sugamo are aimed towards an older crowd, the most famous of them all, the aka pantsu or red underpants, (below left) are the must have item for elderly visiting the area.  This is octogenarian undergarments at their finest.  The underpants are said to keep you warm and give vigor.  

While in the area you’ll also be looking out for a place to eat.  Youkan, a kind of jelly, is the most popular choice amongst the dentured crowd, but for those looking for something with more substance, plenty is to be had during the festival days as far as walking food. I suggest snacking as you go.  Though walking while eating is generally frowned upon in Japanese culture, I have found festivals to be a happy exception.  Plus, most of the people in this place don’t have a lot of time left on the clock, so it doesn’t hurt to multi-task.

    If you happen to find your self in Sugamo on a non-festival day, however, (and I don’t recommend that) one particularly good place to eat is Nishimaru, a shop specializing in grilled freshwater eel.  It is a very popular summer dish in Japan because it is said to have restorative powers during summer heat.  Obviously there is absolutely no fathomable medical/biological reason to think this, but by now you are probably getting the theme here.  If you say it has special powers, it does.  Anyway, it tastes good.  It’s a bit expensive with a set lunch ranging from 2200 yen to 3200 yen, but worth it.  You can also buy take away orders at 600 yen a pop from the front window to eat as you amble.  You may notice in your eel experiences huge discrepancies in price, farmed eel being a fraction as expensive as wild eel.  I honestly can’t say I think the taste difference merits it, but most places that cook it well use the wild variety.  Located between the front entrance at the top of the street and the Temple, the most obvious thing to look for if you don’t read Japanese is a big white flag with an eel on it.

A look through the stores will become rather repetitive after a while, as many of the shops carry the same merchandise.  However, there are a few places worth looking out for.  My personal favorite is a two story shop specializing in Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai clothes and accessories.  They also carry a small assortment of housewares, and I find on almost every trip something I would like to buy if I were still the hippy college student I once was.  The shop named “OJCO” is located directly across from Toginuki Jizo Temple.  It’s definitely worth a peek. 

It’s a nice break at least, from browsing old women’s panties.  Unless that’s your thing.

If, however, eel doesn’t do it for you, (Did I mention eel is also said to put the lead in your pencil?) then there are some other tamer options to be had.  Though you are in Japan, don’t be lame.  Old people in Japan, like everywhere, enjoy sitting and chatting, so, as a result, there is a rather large number of kissaten in Sugamo. Once upon a time, long long ago before Starbucks, if you wanted a coffee in Japan you went to a kissaten.  These are the places that begat the legend of the 10 dollar cup of coffee in Japan.  Prices have come down considerably due to competition from the chains and many are now defunct, but many still survive in Sugamo.  The reason for the price is that you are paying for rent, not so much the coffee, but the coffee is almost always better than what you will find at a chain.  Alps Cafe, which appears in the video at the top of this page as well as the photo on the  right, is a good happy medium between an older style coffee house and the new foreign chic brought by the coffee chains.  If the 550 yen for a cappuccino or 350 for an espresso is too steep, the carry out cups of coffee go for 200 yen.  The drink pictured right is the Vienna Coffee which coming in at 550 had about 1000 yen worth of caffeine kick.  They also have cakes and sandwiches.

Should all this time spent in God’s waiting room leave you pondering the eternal questions, Sugamo has one more spot to visit.  On the other side of the major road (Nakasen-do) that runs through Sugamo from the Toginuki Temple area is the Sugamo cemetery.  A pleasant stroll (particularly during cherry blossom season), depending on how comfortable you are strolling cemeteries, it’s open later than the shops in Sugamo which pretty much all start closing down around 5:00 or 6:00.  Also notable is the small foreigners’ burial area.  Though tiny compared to the much larger example in Aoyama it is an interesting place and if nothing else a place for good, moody pictures at sunset. 

Heading back to the station area you will find more life.  Surprisingly, you will also find a fairly large number of pretty shady red-light type of establishments.  One supposes that is where all that dried snake powder eventually goes to use.

The best bet for food at night in this area is probably the branch of the restaurant chain Tofuro located just next to the train tracks to the north east of the station.  They specialize in dishes featuring its made-on-site tofu.  Clicking the link will bring you to their homepage with a map to the Sugamo branch.  Sadly, it’s not in English, however.

Also you may wish to check out any of the other Izakaya (Japanese style pub restaurants) of which there are many.  Almost all have picture menus and will usually clock you around 3,000 yen to 5,000 yen per person depending on how much you drink.

Viva Sugamo!