Omoide Yokocho Memory Lane

This guide to Omoide Yokocho in Tokyo starts right after World War Two, when homeless traders threw up shacks beside the railway tracks to sell black-market food, and the alley earned an unflattering nickname that stuck for decades. It follows the lane through a 1999 fire and the developers who had long eyed the land beside Shinjuku Station. Lean toward the counter beside you and take in the charcoal smoke as you listen.