Kagurazaka West side has small shops, cafes and art galleries. It is less crowded than the east side of Kagurazaka, although it doesn’t mean it has less interesting stuff. The famous Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and his architectural family members built some architecture pieces which make Kagurazaka West side more interesting.
Kengo Kuma renovated the old warehouse La Kagu to a Life style store with a bunch of wooden steps, Akagi Shrine and its surroundings. His wife Satoko Shirohara (Spatial Design Studio) designed the tall sharehouse SHERE close to the warehouse La Kagu. And his son Taichi Kuma got an opportunity to design a small temporary foodtruck Trailer at Kuma’s property in Kagurazaka.
The stations and metros in Kagurazaka are
Tozai line (Kagurazaka station)
Yurakucho line (Edogawabashi station)
Oedo line (Ushigome-Kagurazaka station)
Some historical facts about Kagurazaka
Kagurazaka dori connected to the Edo castle (the current Imperial palace) started to develop in the 17th century with a lot of shops and houses of the Samurai warriors.
More in the 18th century it became more an entertainment area, since there was a red-light district developed with various theaters, the Zenkokuji temple and its festival.
Akagi shrine was built in 1300, but the latest version was opened in 2010.
Interesting points about Kagurazaka:
The character of France continues from Iidabashi to the west side of Kagurazaka by having several French patisserie stores and French international restaurants.
There is a lot of art or design touch in cafes and stores. With 2 small art galleries around, there is a café called Syrup which is also an exhibition space. It is the same for Hasabon. Also Weekender is interesting, it has art books to buy.
For knowing the area a bit better, a map with images:
This is more about the west side of Kagurazaka, but in walking distance, you can easily continue in Kagurazaka dori until Iidabashi station. To know more about Iidabashi, see our Iidabashi guide map: To-do-list of Iidabashi