Life in Shinagawa
July 14, 2022
Traveling from a small town in Ohio to Tokyo has been incredibly eye opening when it comes to public transportation. I was used to having to drive everywhere due to how spread out cities are in the United States, but now I find myself living a short walk away from Shinagawa station, one of the major railway stations of Tokyo.
I’m quite lucky to live in the Shinagawa area. While it isn’t as flashy as living in Shinjuku or Shibuya, I’ve really come to appreciate what Shinagawa offers. I can still easily access all of the “fun” parts of Tokyo by train and the best part is that when I go back home the streets are quiet and I can easily fall asleep. There are some really nice local bars in the area too. Drinking and chatting with the locals in places like Shimbabar (a pun based on the nearby Shimbamba station) gives me a sense of community that I thought I would never find in a place as large as Tokyo. I also can’t complain because my commute to work is only a 6 minute walk. Well, really it takes about 8 minutes due to a quick stop in the morning at a 7-11 to grab breakfast. Even so, 8 minutes is the best commute to work that I’ve ever had in my life.
During the weekdays I often find myself staying in the immediate area. There are plenty of dining and shopping options in Shinagawa, so I usually don’t have the need to do anything more than walk around until I find something that looks interesting. Sometimes though, I’ll hop on a train right after work if there’s a place that I really want to go to or friends that I want to see.
I often find myself meeting up with friends on the weekends. My friends live all over Tokyo, but the railways make it incredibly easy to meet up in a centralized location. Granted, the last train runs around midnight and the first train doesn’t run until about 5:30 AM, so we have to be strategic about how far we are from our houses depending on if we want to stay out late. Empty taxis looking for potential passengers can be seen driving around all times of day and night, but usually they’re avoided due to steeper fees compared to trains, especially when traveling alone.
~ JHE
