Desirable neighborhoods

Real estate and housing company Suumo released its annual ranking of the most desirable places to live in Kanto in April and, while we acknowledge this is a little late, it did produce some interesting results.

2>1: Kichijoji topped the rankings this year, regaining the top spot after losing it to Ebisu in 2016. Suumo expressed some surprise at the result, but put it down to the extra exposure it received from being mentioned in TV shows such as TV Tokyo's "Kichijoji Dake ga Sumitai Machi Desu ka?" ("Would You Like to Live in Kichijoji City?").

13>5: Shinagawa, meanwhile, surged up the rankings this year, coming in at a record-high fifth place. So dramatic was the increase that it was just 20 votes shy of taking fourth place off Meguro, which is a traditionally popular neighborhood owing to its local government's beneficial tax policies. According to Suumo, Shinagawa's popularity was directly related to the construction of a new station on the Yamanote Line between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations. Called Shin-Shinagawa, the new station is part of a development project that will turn approximately 130,000 square meters of adjacent land into a commercial hub larger than either Tokyo Midtown or Roppongi Hills. It's also worth noting that Shinagawa will be the terminal point for a magnetic levitation train that will commence service between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027. Shinagawa Ward also climbed the rankings for the most desirable ward in Tokyo to live in, moving up from 10th place to a respectable seventh.

4>11: Shinagawa's rise came at the expense of Jiyugaoka in this year's rankings, as the Meguro neighborhood dropped out of the top 10 altogether. We guess people really can get sick of endless shopping and tiny dogs.