[Special] The Season of New Beginnings Has Come! Tips for Making the Most of Shopping Districts Connected to Their Local Communities

Our first tip is to enjoy eating at home with prepared dishes and takeout. Even under the difficult circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are sure that many of you want to eat great food from restaurants and shops. For great takeout dishes that you can eat at home, we recommend plumall Umeyashiki Shopping Street, which boasts one of the biggest shopping districts in Ota City!
There are approximately 140 shops in the area with many of them having strong connections to their local communities, providing delicious food at reasonable prices.
Let’s jump right into introducing some shops from plumall Umeyashiki Shopping Street.

Ohkoshi

Established in 1914, Ohkoshi offers healthy and traditional prepared dishes including tempura and simmered fish. Each and every one of the dishes is hand-made. The key to their popularity is the secret dashi broth used for simmering fish and vegetables. Try out the delicious fare recommended by the locals that you cannot taste anywhere else. Ohkoshi is a shop that offers a variety of prepared dishes so you will not get tired of their menu even if you drop in every day.

Ohkoshi
Address
 2-4-3 Kamata, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-3738-2036
Hours of Operation
 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Regular Closures
 Sundays and national holidays

Bairin Inc.

Bairin Inc. was established in 2008 in Umeyashiki, Ota-ku, and operates a few restaurants in the Umeyashiki area. Due to the current situation regarding the pandemic, Bairin is being creative about takeout in various ways. Bairin Honten offers authentic Japanese cuisine in vacuum packaging. Most of the favored items on the menu at Izakaya Bairin such as Kaisen Don (Seafood Rice Bowl) and Yakitori Don (Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl) are available for takeout.


Left: Mr. Tateishi (left) and Manami (right) of Bairin Honten
Right: A variety of dishes at Izakaya Bairin are available for takeout
Yakiniku Goen offers Loco Moco Don (Loco Moco Rice Bowl, 980 yen including tax) that uses abundant amounts of choice beef for yakiniku. This item is only available for takeout.
Isn’t it great to be able to enjoy the taste of the restaurant at home?


Left: Loco Moco Don for takeout
Right: Misaki with a charming smile, the restaurant manager who used to be a stage actress (left) and Tobi (right)
Please see Bairin Inc.’s website for more information on each restaurant.
https://www.bairin.info/shop

There are many more shops that sell prepared dishes or that have takeout items at plumall Umeyashiki Shopping Street! To name a few more, Meat Shop Yuuki is famous for their fried prepared dishes, YASUDAYA boasts a menu of prepared dishes made with organic ingredients, Yatsumeya Matsumoto Umeyashiki Store offers glaze-grilled eel for takeout, and Les Halles Kakinuma has prepared dishes packed with vegetables. The different options at plumall Umeyashiki Shopping Street are very diverse.

	Meat Shop Yuuki Address　2-4-1 Kamata, Ota-ku TEL　03-3738-1531 Hours of Operation　10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Regular Closures　Sundays
	YASUDAYA Address　2-7-12 Kamata, Ota-ku TEL　03-3735-6000 Hours of Operation　10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Regular Closures　Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays Official Website　https://www.yasudayahonten.co.jp/
	Yatsumeya Matsumoto Umeyashiki Store Address　2-4-6 Kamata, Ota-ku TEL　03-3731-1677 Hours of Operation　10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Regular Closures　Wednesdays
	Les Halles Kakinuma Address　6-12-18 Omorinishi, Ota-ku TEL　03-3761-6894 Hours of Operation　9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Regular Closures　Sundays and national holidays

Our second tip is to get to know the specialty shops that are masters of their craft. There are many community-based specialty shops that handle all sorts of things related to life in shopping districts. If you get to know these specialty shops, you will be able to take care of many unexpected needs! Furthermore, if you get to know the shop owners, they may turn out to be reliable connections. So let’s take a look at Yukigaya Shopping District, which has a lot of specialty shops.

The Repairs

Those leather shoes or that bag that you have been cherishing have broken, but they are too old to turn to the manufacturer for help... Has this ever happened to you? The Repairs offers repair services or refurbishment of shoes and bags. The shop owner is Mr. Satoshi Yamamoto (top right photo, right side) who has been a craftsman for 16 years. The shop has a studio inside where they work on the items brought by customers, with the exception of some special cases, so The Repairs handles detailed orders and requests according to your needs. Knowing who will be working on your cherished items can help you feel comfortable. This is one of the strengths of a community-based shopping district.

The Repairs
Address
 1F, 2-3-10 Minamiyukigaya, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-6451-7061
Hours of Operation
 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Regular Closures
 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (as of March 2021 when this article was written)

april

april offers solutions regarding clothes for anything from a button coming off to pants needing to be hemmed. april not only repairs clothes, but also offers alterations and fit adjustment for clothes as well as refurbishment. As a craftsman is always on staff, april is able to handle detailed orders. The store itself is their workshop, so you can see them work and feel comfortable entrusting them with your business.

april
Address
 GRANTEMS Minamiyukigaya 102, 2-11-22 Minamiyukigaya, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-3729-1755
Hours of Operation
 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Regular Closures
 Sundays
Official Website
 https://remakedressapril.wordpress.com/

Araiya-Tofuten

Established in 1928, Araiya-Tofuten has been named one of “Ota’s Famous Foods” and “Selected 100 Souvenirs from Ota.” Araiya-Tofuten offers the luxury of everyday access to fresh, high-quality tofu made with only domestic soy beans and natural nigari (bittern)! Araiya-Tofuten also offers all kinds of prepared dishes that use tofu, and the variety is vast. New menu items are added regularly, so this is a shop you can enjoy visiting often.

Araiya-Tofuten
Address
 2-11-19 Minamiyukigaya, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-3729-1742
Hours of Operation
 Opens as soon as production is finished (generally around 11:00 a.m.) - 6:00 p.m.
Regular Closures
 Sundays (and some national holidays)
Official Website
 http://www.tofu-araiya.com/
Official Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/tofuaraiya

SUNNY DAYS

SUNNY DAYS is such a popular chiffon cake specialty shop that they often sell out of everything by evening. SUNNY DAYS uses fresh eggs to create fluffy meringue and the cake is leavened with just eggs and without using baking powder, so it is very soft and fluffy! Safe ingredients are used, so people at any age can enjoy without worries.
Yukigaya Tofu Chiffon, which is a collaboration item with the aforementioned Araiya-Tofuten, is sold at Araiya-Tofuten for a limited time only! Being able to combine the best parts of each specialty shop is thanks to the relationships within the shopping district. How about purchasing a cake for a break with your family or as a snack for your visitors?

SUNNY DAYS
Address
 2-7-11 Minamiyukigaya, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-6425-7394
Hours of Operation
 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (last order is at 6:00 p.m.)
Regular Closures
 Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
Official Website
 https://chiffon-sunnydays.com/
Official Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/sunnydays.chiffon/
Official Instagram
 https://www.instagram.com/sunnydays.chiffon/

Due to the pandemic, it has been quite difficult to go somewhere far on days off. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a spot in a shopping district nearby where you can spend your day off?
Therefore, our third tip is to enjoy your fruitful day off in the shopping district.

The Ikegami area not only has several famous sightseeing spots in Ota City such as Ikegami Honmonji Temple and Ikegami Baien (plum garden), but also is a huge shopping district area with 12 shopping districts within. From a shopping district related mainly to sightseeing to a community-based shopping district, Ikegami Shopping District Association consists of diverse shopping districts. In Ikegami Shopping District Association, there are many unique shops where you can enjoy your day off. In these shops, events and culture schools are proactively held that put importance on interaction with the local community.

Let’s take a look!

Nomigawa Studio

Nomigawa Studio offers a recreational space such as a gallery and event space for the local community. In Nomigawa Studio, the Book Studio opened in September 2020. The Book Studio provides a 30cm x 30cm shelf to sell books as a kind of small bookstore.


There are some conditions to selling books at the Book Studio, but an individual can still use the service. The Book Studio space is very interesting in that you can see the personality of each seller just by going through the shelves.


Furthermore, the sellers at the Book Studio hold various events, making it a local community interaction space.
Nomigawa Studio is jointly operated by Mr. Keisuke Abe (right photo, right side) and Mr. Hideyuki Ishii (right photo, left side). This is a spot we should keep an eye on as a community information center.

Nomigawa Studio
Address
 Dai 5 Asahi Building 1F, 4-11-1 Ikegami, Ota-ku
Hours of Operation
 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Days of Operation
 Fridays and Saturdays
Official Twitter
 https://twitter.com/nomigawastudio
Official Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/nomigawastudio/

SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS

SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS looks like a stylish cafe, but that is not all. SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS was born as a place of interaction for artists who proactively trade input and community information with the local community.
It was opened as a base for the Ikegami Area Renovation Project.
“Through the physical store SANDO (this cafe), free paper HOTSANDO for the purpose of sending out information on paper (bottom right in the photo), and through various events utilizing this place, we hope to help create the future of Ikegami,” says Mr. Susumu Odagiri (staff, top right in the photo).
SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS is also a music label, which means that it is a base of activity for various local musicians and artists.

SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS is sure to offer you stimulating culture to brighten up your average day. It is right in front of Ikegami Station, so do not hesitate to pop in. You may open a door to new possibilities!

SANDO BY WEMON PROJECTS
Address
 4-31-16 Ikegami, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-5755-3719
Hours of Operation
 Wednesdays - Mondays (10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
Regular Closures
 Tuesdays
Official Website
 https://www.newsando.com/
Official Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/WEMON-Projects-344468649747657/
Official Instagram
 https://www.instagram.com/wemon_projects/?hl=ja

BALLOON SHOP MARQUEES

BALLOON SHOP MARQUEES sells original balloon art and chalk art, offering custom-made balloon art that is perfect as a gift, as well as chalk art drawings for signs.
The shop houses its own studio, and workshops and lessons are held here. Due to the pandemic, these workshops and lessons are held online these days, and the dates are posted on Instagram and Facebook. How about trying some out on your day off?

BALLOON SHOP MARQUEES
Address
 4-27-6-102 Ikegami, Ota-ku
TEL
 03-6410-4970
Hours of Operation
 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Days of Operation
 Tuesdays, and Thursdays - Saturdays (closed on national holidays)
Official Website
 http://marquees.jp/
Official Instagram
 https://www.instagram.com/marquees_999/
Official Facebook
 https://www.facebook.com/marquees.jp/


What did you think about our tips for making the most of shopping districts packed with charm in Ota City? If you take a walk through each one, you will be able to see the life of the town and local community. There are many more attractive shopping districts in Ota City. We are sure that the new chapter of your life in Ota City will be enriched by visiting them!

For more information on shopping districts in Ota City, please check out the website of Ota-ku Shotengai Rengokai, OTAFULL.
Ota-ku Shotengai Rengokai website OTAFULL:https://otakushoren.com/