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Skip the hotel buffet. Try Ameyoko.

A quick food walk through Ameyoko market in Ueno, Tokyo.

Ueno, Tokyo 1:30

One Full Turn at a Tokyo Intersection

I stood at one Tokyo intersection and turned all the way around. 32 seconds.

Chidori-cho, Tokyo 0:32

Meguro River: Take the Early Walk

An early-morning walk along the Meguro River in Tokyo, on the stretch south of the station.

Jiyugaoka, Tokyo 1:30

Skip Dotonbori. Try Fukushima.

A short Osaka food film: it starts in Dotonbori, then heads to Fukushima. Watch before choosing where to spend your evening.

Osaka 1:26

Skip the scramble. Go to Kamata instead.

Take a look around Kamata in Tokyo’s Ota ward. A short film for when you want to get off the usual tourist route.

Shibuya, Tokyo 1:25

A Quiet Moment at Yonge and Eglinton

A quiet 80 seconds at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto.

Toronto, Yonge-Eglinton 1:20

Shibamata: Walk to Taishakuten

Walk the street leading up to Taishakuten temple in Shibamata, in Tokyo’s Katsushika ward. A short look at the neighbourhood and its temple street.

Kappabashi, Tokyo 1:30

One Tokyo Evening, in 90 Seconds

Trains, neon, and alleyways from a Tokyo evening. 90 seconds of an ordinary Tokyo night.

Meguro Ward, Tokyo 1:30

NOTES FROM STEVIE

Skip the hotel buffet. Try Ameyoko.

The Market Under the Tracks

Ameya Yokocho — Ameyoko to anyone who actually shops there — is a four-hundred-meter-long market crammed under the Yamanote line between Ueno and Okachimachi. Open-air stalls. Live seafood. Spices. Sneakers. Whisky. Mochi. The thing your hotel breakfast is pretending to be.

Why the Hotel Loses

Hotel buffets are designed to feed the maximum number of people the minimum offensive meal. Ameyoko is designed to feed Tokyo office workers on the way home. Different incentives produce different food. One of them is excellent. One of them is fine.

The Dusk Move

The film catches the market right when the sun drops behind the Yamanote viaduct and the neon kicks on. The 5-7 PM window is the busiest, the most chaotic, and the most rewarding. The vendors are calling out, the locals are arguing prices, the smell of grilled skewers is doing the marketing.

What to Actually Buy

The grilled scallops. The skewers from the stall with no English sign and no menu. The seasonal fruit — strawberries in spring, grapes in autumn, persimmons in early winter. Whatever the line is for. Don’t overthink it.

Getting There

Ueno Station, south exit. Or Okachimachi Station, north exit. Walk between the two and you’ve walked the whole market. Cash. Most stalls won’t take cards. Bring an empty stomach and small bills.

Read the transcript

If you eat at the chain you walked past, you've already lost the trip. The good places are one block off the main road, no English sign, six seats max.