Walking tour of Hoppy Street in Asakusa Tokyo Japan – izakayas and street food.
What is Hoppy Street? Hoppy Street is a small laneway filled with small pubs (izakayas) offering a great range of drinks and food. Hoppy Street is a throw-back to old Tokyo and people enjoy the small crowded pubs with rustic facilities set in a traditional old-school retro environment
These old style laneways with izakayas are called YOKOCHO in Japanese. Yokochos can be found in many places around Tokyo (and other Japanese cities) and they are always full with busy workers and shoppers taking a break and having a drink and meal..
I took a stroll down Hoppy Street one Saturday afternoon in April 2017 and was surprised how busy and crowded it was. There must have been a festival (matsuri) or something to bring so many people to the area. Also, on a Saturday afternoon, Hoppy Street fills with punter who visit the nearby WINS horse-racing betting facility.
Just west of Sensoji is Hoppy Street, so named for the drink made with this non-alcoholic beer and shochu, sake’s stronger cousin. Aside from the fizzy beverage, Hoppy Street also has a number of casual open-air eateries where you can get fresh-grilled yakitori skewers or the area’s specialty: beef stew. You also won’t want to miss stopping by Kamiya, Japan’s oldest Western-style bar, famous for its original brandy-based cocktail Denki-Bran.
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No need to fret if the name Hoppy Street doesn’t ring a bell – this Asakusa alley, named after the classic beer-like beverage and also known as ‘Stew Street’, isn’t exactly high on the list of standard tourist attractions in the area. That, however, is part of the charm of this roughly 80-metre long street, located on the west side of Sensoji Temple next to an off-track betting zone. Although small and unpretentious, Hoppy Street boasts an impressive collection of storefront bars that offer drinks (and more) at very reasonable rates. Traditionally, patrons at these watering holes were a hard-drinking crowd, sipping beers as they scanned the latest horse-racing broadsheets, but young locals and travellers have also discovered the spot in recent years, leading to a change in atmosphere: on weekdays and weekends alike, race fans, tourists, and families with children in tow crowd the neighbourhood. If you pass by the Wins Asakusa off-track betting spot, you’ll enter Asakusa Hatsune Koji Inshokugai, renowned for the hordes of Hoppy-drinking horse racing fans sitting outside the bars debating and predicting race results.
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AloJapan.com