Ameya-Yokocho (Ameyoko) – Ueno’s Lively Street Market

Ameya-Yokocho is a lively street market that runs alongside the railway tracks between JR Ueno Station and Okachimachi Station. The street features a huge variety of small retail businesses selling seafood, fruits and vegetables, general groceries, discount clothing, accessories, cosmetics, watches, and confectionery. There are also a large number of stalls selling street-food snacks, along with cheap restaurants, cafes, and bars.

Ameya-Yokocho is very popular with tourists and over half the customers visiting the market are said to be from overseas. In this article we will introduce some of the best shopping and dining opportunities along this street.

The History of Ameya-Yokocho

Originally, the area now called Ameya-Yokocho was a downtown residential district with many wooden houses packed closely together. However, during the last war the entire area was burned to the ground in a bombing raid. Immediately after the war rebuilding began and a number of shops and street stalls appeared in the area. At the time a lot of essential goods were in short supply and a black market sprang up selling these goods at inflated prices. Local authorities began to regulate the area in 1946 and this was the beginning of today’s street market.

Why the street is called Ameya-Yokocho is not clear. One explanation is that right after the war, when sugar was hard to come by, the market was popular for its stalls selling cheap candies. Sweets are called “ame” in Japanese, “ya” means “shop”, and “yokocho” means “alley”. Another explanation is that “ame” stands for “America” because a lot of stalls were selling cheap American army surplus goods. Whichever story is true, there are still a lot of candy stores on Ameya-Yokocho today. However, these days the street is actually more commonly called “Ameyoko” for short.

Dining on Ameyoko

Ameya-yokocho is a great area for trying different street foods, snacks, and treats. Here you can find typical downtown Tokyo food such as yakitori chicken, takoyaki octopus dumplings, and okonomiyaki pancakes, and alongside the Japanese fare is a rich array of international foods such as Chinese, Thai, Indian, Turkish, and Korean. Here are some of our top recommendations for eating on Ameyoko.

Hyakkaen New Fruit

Hyakkaen New Fruit is a fruit shop on the east side of Ameyoko. It is very easy to find partly because of its shop-front tables covered in colorful piles of fruits, and also because there is usually a large crowd of people here buying fresh fruit slices. Served on a stick, a variety of fruits are available at cheap prices as a quick refreshing snack. Priced between 100 and 200 yen you can get fruits such as pineapple, melon, watermelon, and juicy strawberries when in season. Freshly squeezed juice is also available.

Address: 6-chome-10-12 Ueno, Taito, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 10.00 – 19.00
Closed: Wednesdays

Niku no Ohyama

Located down a side street just off the east side of Ameyoko, Niku no Ohyama is a small eatery and snack shop which is most famous for its minced-meat cakes, called “menchi katsu”. Covered in a crispy breaded batter, the minced beef patties are deep-fried to a crispy golden brown. You can order them as a takeaway snack or eat at the store and enjoy them with a beer. The “niku” in the shop name means “meat” so this shop has an extensive range of other meat dishes on the menu, including steaks, burgers, curry, and beef croquettes.

Address: 6-13-2 Ueno, Taito, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday: 11.00 – 23.00 (Last orders: 22.00)
Sundays & Holidays: 11.00 – 22.00 (Last orders: 21.00)
Closed: January 1st

Uokusa

Located on the outside of the Ameyoko Plaza shopping mall, Uokusa is a seafood store doubling up as a standing-bar. Here you can order drinks with fresh oysters, scallops, crab, and other seafood snacks.

Address: 6-10-7 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: Weekdays: 11.00 – 20.15 (Last orders: 20.00)
Weekends & Holidays: 11.00 – 19.15 (Last orders: 19.00)
Closed: The 2nd Wednesday of each month

Uncle Joe

Uncle Joe is another store on the outside of Ameyoko Plaza. This Korean street food store is best known for its tteok-bokki; spicy stir-fried rice cakes with a variety of toppings such as cheese, seafood, or barbecued beef. Also on the menu are savory chijimi pancakes, sweet hotteok pancakes, kimmari deep-fried rolls of seaweed and noodles, and skewered tteokochi rice cakes. Wash these down with your choice from the store’s many delicious smoothies, juices, and teas.

Address: 6-10-7 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 10.30 – 18:00
Closed: The 3rd Wednesday of each month

Tentenraku

Located on the 1st floor of the Ameyoko Center Building this casual Chinese eatery has a varied and colorful menu featuring steamed dumplings, pork buns, spring rolls, spicy and sour noodle soups, wonton soup, liangpi noodles, xianbing meat pies, smoked duck, and spicy mala hot pot dishes.

Address: 4−7−8 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 9.00 – 21.00

Minatoya

Minatoya is a popular Japanese seafood restaurant and its main dish is kaisendon: fresh sashimi (or raw fish) served on a bowl of hot rice. Outside the restaurant is a giant picture menu showing the various toppings you can have on your seafood bowl, including tuna, salmon, squid, and salmon roe. If you are hungry then Minatoya’s kaisendon will fill you up and is very good value for money. If you prefer a lighter snack, Minatoya also serves freshly baked takoyaki octopus dumplings. Depending on how hungry you are you can get 4 takoyaki for 200 yen, 6 for 300 yen, or 8 for 400 yen.

Address: 4-1-9 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0015 (map)
Opening Hours: 11.00 – 19.00
Closed: January 1st – 2nd

Shopping on Ameyoko

Ameyayokocho is not only fun for lovers of street-food, but it is a bargain shopper’s paradise too. Here you can find a great range of fashion, cosmetics, accessories, medicines, and daily groceries and all at knock-down discount prices. Here are some great shopping opportunities you should look out for.

Matsumoto Kiyoshi

Matsumoto Kiyoshi is a popular discount drugstore chain and the best place to stock up on cheap pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, health food, insect repellents, hair-care products, bathroom supplies, sanitary products, and even soft drinks and snacks. This branch near the northern entrance to Ameyoko is a large store with two floors and it has a massive selection of inexpensive health and beauty products as well as everyday groceries.

Address: 4-10-16 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 9.30 – 22.00

Cha-no-Kiminoen

Cha-no-Kiminoen is a specialty green tea shop, first established in 1946, that deals in select blends of fine tea varieties. Among the store’s rich selection of teas are sencha (the standard variety of green tea) which has a mellow taste and refreshing aroma, hojicha (roasted green tea) which has a rich, savory flavor and low caffeine content, genmaicha (tea with brown rice) which has a mellow, nutty flavor, and matcha which is the powdered green tea used in tea ceremonies. This is a great shop to buy some unique souvenir teas and on the second floor you can also find tea pots, cups, caddies, and tea making utensils. Recently this shop is also popular for its ice creams which come in three flavors: milk, matcha, and a mixture of the two.

Address: 4-9-13 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 10.00 – 20.00
Closed: The 3rd Tuesday of each month

Garakuta Boeki

Garakuta Boeki is an import store dealing in a wide variety of American lifestyle products such as clothes, footwear, kitchen utensils, interior goods, furniture, toys, bags, watches, accessories, and general sundries. This is a colorful store with a relaxed retro atmosphere and friendly staff.

Address: 6-9-21 Ueno, Taito, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 11.00 – 20.00
Closed: January 1st

Niki-no-Kashi Number 1 Store

Niki-no-Kashi is a confectionary store stocking over 5,000 varieties of snacks and sweets. This long-standing business was first founded in 1947, and is famous for its incredible assortment of delicious confectionary sold at bargain prices. Here you can find popular chocolates, candies, cakes, and cookies, old-fashioned sweets, high-quality confections, local treats sourced from all over Japan, and savory rice crackers. If you want to bulk buy some sweet gifts for friends and family, then this is the place to come.

Address: 4-1-8 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 10.00 – 20.00

Ameyoko Center Building

Ameyoko Center Building is a large shopping center on the west side of Ameyoko with four floors above ground and one basement level. The basement is particularly popular because it houses an ethnic food market where you can find all kinds of Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese ingredients, spices, sauces pickles, fruits, vegetables, exotic meats, and seafood.

The 1st floor facing the street is mostly occupied by cheap eateries but there are some stores selling shoes, bags, and clothes.

On the 2nd floor there are a number of fashion and jewelry boutiques.

On the 3rd floor is a camera shop, a pop fashion boutique, a vinyl record store, and a large sporting goods store.

The 4th floor has another branch of the Festival Sports store, which is devoted solely to golf related goods.

Address: 4-7-8 Ueno, Taito, Tokyo 110-0005 (map)
Opening Hours: 10.00 – 20.00
Closed: The 3rd Wednesday of each month except December

Uechun

About 150 meters from Ameyoko’s northern entrance another shopping street splits off from it. This street is properly called “Ueno Naka-dori”, which means “Ueno Center Street,” but it is commonly known by its nickname “Uechun”. Uechun has a lot of stores selling clothing and shoes, and plenty of casual sit-down restaurants. Uechun and Ameyoko run parallel with each other for much of their length. However, Uechun tends to be quieter and less crowded, so if you would like to experience a more relaxed street market atmosphere this is the place to be.

Marishiten Tokudaiji Temple

Marishiten Tokudaiji is a small Buddhist temple on raised ground overlooking Ameyoko street market. The temple entrance is located on a side street on Ameyoko’s west side and it is directly opposite the Nishi-no-Kashi confectionary store. This is a peaceful spot where you can take a short break from the busy market below. To read more about this historic temple please read our article Marishiten Tokudaiji Temple.

Location

The northern entrance to Ameya-Yokocho is directly across the road from JR Ueno Station’s Shinobazu Exit and right beside the Yodabashi Camera Multimedia electronics store.

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.