Tokyo City

Situated on the JR Chuo Line about 15 minutes west of Shinjuku station and just west of Nakano, Koenji is probably not on anyone’s list of happening places to check out in Tokyo. But that makes it a good reason to see it in my case; I dig the road less traveled and the sights less seen. My first encounter with this neighborhood was almost 15 years ago when a friend invited me to check his band out at a dive bar around here. What was supposed to be a quick jaunt from Yokohama to drink and hang out before the last train back wound up becoming an all-nighter/next day hang-out at a festival. This place truly has more than lets on at first glance. History Lesson Koenji was once just a sleepy temple and inn stop along the Ome-Kaido road between old Edo and the lands to the west, past the mountain villages of present-day Fussa and Ome. The temple, Shukuhōzan Kōenji, started back in 1555 and became a popular spot to stop for rest and supplies. Of course, as Tokyo grew, the JR Chuo Line came with it, which moved commercial activity a few blocks north near the…