After work last night, I found myself walking towards Koenji. I have no destination in mind but I've always wanted to check out more about Koenji ever since I heard it's one of the places where you go for vintage and thrift shopping next to Shimokitazawa.
It's almost 9PM when I reached Shin Koenji station, (I walked towards here) and thought about not proceeding with last night's thrift shopping exploration but I proceeded to enter the shopping district and see where my feet would led me.
I'm a bit familiar around Shin Koenji as this was where I stayed when I watched the Awa Odori Festival here last year. It's so different with few passersby and at this time of the night, most of the shops I passed by were about to close for the day or already closed.
I've seen a few small restaurants that were still open for business, and some bars waiting for customers.
As expected, most of the thrift shops were already done for the day. I could only admire what's in their display and what I could see from outside.
This shop attracted my wandering mind because the design looked like a hobbit pub or a pub with mythical creatures inside. It's a clothing store of course. 😂 I was about to enter but I didn't really have anything to buy so I stopped myself.
I was amazed there's this vending machine that sells a small t-shirt and colorful socks!
What kind of gachapon is this?! Is this some kind of joke?! 😂 It's an ID photo of random people I don't know.
I tried looking not just where I was heading but also on the sides and small alleys. This was probably the wider alley I've found. If I was walking here at midnight, I might think there's some ghost here or something. 👻
Why do I get some foreign vibes looking at these 2 shops?
When I saw this flag displayed on one of the stores, I realized there's a bit of influence I've seen while walking in this vintage shopping street. Some clothes were a bit punk and lots of street clothing.
And unexpectedly I found art on the wall!
I didn't know how long I've been walking already, maybe still a few more minutes. I was just surprised I was now in the covered shotengai (or shopping area).
It's just connected to the narrow street I was walking earlier but now it's covered and a bit bright because of the lights.
I was surprised because on the side of the covered shotengai was a normal road. I didn't see traffic here though, and thought to myself maybe some cars would pass by this covered shopping street..?
In the covered shopping street, there were still more shops for vintage clothing. The very popular 2nd Street Reuse Shop is even here! When I was still living in Osaka and on my first few years in Japan, I used to go to 2nd Street for shopping. They have a lot of good stuff, and this shop in Koenji is no exception. I could see from outside they have lots of clothes because they occupy 3 floors! They close at 9pm and it was already passed 9pm, so I wonder why the shop seems like it's still opened.
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There were so many stuff displayed outside of some shops. The hats were fun because they were a lot of different kinds! The pins were so small and so many too!
How exciting is this bookstore!? I see lots of non books here though. Is this really a bookstore?
I didn't know there's an illumination here in Koenji! They made this little park just outside the station beautifully lit at night. It was so peaceful though, and I haven't seen a lot of souls under the illumination. I wanted to go near but the other side of the tracks made me curious.
I decided to satisfy my curiosity and headed towards the other side and was surprised by the small trees here. I didn't understand if they're about to be dead or withered because it's autumn now but one thing's for sure - the leaves have started to turn from green to reddish! I guess this weekend we'll see more autumn colors in Tokyo!
There's another shopping district further at the back but I think that area's where the food is. Since I'm not so sure, I'll make sure to come back and check out that place.
I decided to take the train back because I needed to reach the house before 10 PM. After taking the train though, I still needed to walk for almost 20 minutes to the house. 😅
If you're planning to do some thrift and vintage shopping in Tokyo, I recommend Koenji! Go early though, not like me who came before 9PM. LOL
Thanks for reading!