Nishi-Ogikubo — or Nishiogi, as the locals like to call it — is a quiet, low-rise neighborhood, a backwater that most people overlook in their hurry to get to bustling Kichijoji. Therein lies its primary appeal.
Its main claim to fame these days is its high concentration of antique shops (63 listed on the free tourist handout map), kimono dealers, bric-a-brac merchants, recycling outlets and secondhand bookstores. Back in the day, though, the area was perfumed with a heady whiff of counterculture.
One pocket of that righteous hippie ethos still lives on at Hobitto-mura ("Hobbit Village"). It's not hard to find: Just south of the tracks, it's the tatty building with star-shaped windows up the stairwell and foliage covering its facade.
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