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Kagurazaka – Tokyo’s “Little Paris”

FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show takes a look at Kagurazaka, an upscale neighborhood in Tokyo that is like a little piece of France in Japan (partial English translation provided):

Because the area has so many French residents, it also has a lot of good French restaurants. Reviews of some of the best restaurants and cafes can be found in the Japan Times and on Bento dot com.

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14 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - October 21, 2009 at 8:36 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: Kagurazaka

sublight

There’s also a French international school in that area, the Lycee Franco-Japonais de Tokyo.

The French pre-school, Aux Pays des Sakuras, isn’t far from there either.
k9

i like airplane…….w
steve

haha, they edited me out, probably for the best. This google map has some of the less well-known but cool places to hang out in kagurazaka.

The supermarket is Kimuraya (on the map) and has a great balance of import and domestic goods and is typically inexpensive for daily stuff and certainly inexpensive for import stuff.

They do a limited wine tasting on the weekends along with the 5% discount.
Japanfan

Kevin Cooney also has a great little video on this area. With what looks like a beautiful place to have a little cup of tea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4RQsmLHkU

steve

For me the audio was way out of sync, making it a bit hard to watch. I’m hearing slurping noodles when there should be no slurping of noodles.

The big gyoza is not that good. There has to be a strict balance between the ratio of skin and filling. go-ju-ban’s giant manju are good but a bit expensive. And again, you’re eating a thick kawa rather than tons of tasty filling.

michanimata

This could be a cure to bigotry. In ways, we need to have diversity so we can assure conversation has a point. The more diversity is placed upon an area, the stimulus will be psychologically seen as ‘usual’.
http://sagasofsaga.blogspot.com/ Furious

This is really rather silly. How did this get a spot on TV? I mean, how many did they say? 28 people? That counts as 多い? That’s the number of people you need for it to “not look like Japan”? I just checked, and there are 11,965 Japanese people in my old city back in Canada.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

They asked the first 50 foreigners they ran into on the street. 28 of them were French. That does not mean that there are only 28 French people in Kagurazaka.

Ajapa

According to the article by “Business Media 誠” (written in Japanese, originally published on Sankei Shinbun), at present (Jul. 2009),

Total population of registered French residents in Tokyo is 5,832 people. Among this, Shinjuku ward has the largest French population, 1,216 people, the second is Minato ward having 1,010 people, then Shibuya ward follows, with 571 people. Among the other municipality except Tokyo, Yokohama city has the largest population of French, with 351 people (in 2007 statistics).

So, there are, at most, 1216 French people living in Kagurazaka. The above article firstly suggests

Kagurazaka, where geishas walk in this vicinity, has tangled alleys and many slopes, and is likely to be reminiscent of Paris, hence it seems to fascinate French people.

and

Actually, Kagurazaka is full of factors which may attract fashionable (stylish and chic) French people.

and then the article goes into more reasonable facts and the detail.

Dany

I’m French and going to university just in front of Kagurazaka.

That’s true that there are a LOT of French people overthere. That’s so weird randomly hear some French words when I’m walking there. And as a French representant, I have to say that I really like that place. Lol

Furious : Comparing Japan and Canada may not be the best idea you could have. Do you have,like Japan, 1% of foreigners in Canada ? I don’t think so.
Man from the West

The French Cultural Institute is also located in Iidabashi, a few meters from Kagurazaka.

But basically, it’s simply because expats send from France with good to high salaries are renting houses close to the French-Japanese High School (Lycee Franco-Japonais) so their childrens can go to school by foot or bike.

If you know them, most of them do not speak japanese and are here for 3-4 years no more, with most of their spouses not working, which makes this area a kind of Ghetto for narrow-minded rich Expat Bourgeoisie (not necesseraly open-mind, maybe except for the stupid Ikebana activities).

Other french people (i.e. settled for a longer period, with normal income, who can speak japanese, who are more integrated to the japanese society) tend to live elsewhere. None of the french people I know aged between 20 and 35 are living there.

rabuho

I work just west of Kagurazaka, and often pass through the most “heavily” French-populated areas of the district, and I can vouch for Man from the West’s comments. Michelin has their headquarters in Iidabashi, and Adidas is located near Ushigome-Kagurazaka Station; the concentration of companies (and the nearby apartments they own) plus the Lycee Franco-Japonais make this area a French expat hotspot.

But 90% of the French people I see are either of school age or their parents — and the parents are, without exception, pushing strollers.

Think Azabu, but more wholly French.

steve

Yes, there are lots of stroller-pushing moms around.

At least they aren’t running down the street, drunk, making fools of themselves. This is what I picture when I think of an expat ghetto. My French friends in the area are all long-term residents who speak Japanese fluently.

The best thing about the area is it has lots of Japanese history and lots of things from abroad available – all in one place.

http://ccgps.eastern.edu/members/webmastering/ Marques blanche

Awesome writer

Kagurazaka – Tokyo’s “Little Paris”

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