Imaike

A black market after the war, then cinemas, bowling alleys and a skating rink.

Imaike is a crossroads with two metro lines underneath and venues all around. It started with the post-war black market; then, since everyone passed through, came the cinemas, the bowling alleys, the skating rink and the parlours for pachinko, the steel-ball game. By day it is a street like any other: the time to see it is the evening, when the venues open.

Imaike is in Chikusa Ward, around the crossroads served by the Higashiyama and Sakura-dōri lines. After the war a black market formed there, and its position on a traffic hub made it an entertainment district. Around 1955 three shopkeepers’ committees were formed around the crossroads, to the north, south-east and south-west, and around 1965 they became three separate associations. In 1989 the three joined together to hold a single festival: that is where the shopkeepers’ federation and the Imaike festival come from, and the festival has been repeated ever since.

ℹ️ It is an open neighbourhood: you can pass through at any hour and pay nothing, but what there is to see opens in the evening. The 2026 edition of the Imaike festival falls on Sunday 20 and Monday 21 September and brings road closures around the crossroads; the dates change every year and are published by the shopkeepers’ federation on its website, together with the times.

🚉 Imaike · 3 min walk

Sources: imaike55.com · imaike55.com

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