Step back to the past

A shop on Yanaka Ginza shopping street selling the traditional beanpaste-filled cakes in the shape of a cat.

Yanaka has few of the big franchise stores, often Western, that you see in the rest of the Tokyo. "People live above their businesses," says West, an American artist. "None of this has a big corporation behind it. Pretty much the individuals who run them are there."

The easiest place to start exploring is the old Yanaka Ginza shopping street, a short walk from Nippori Station. As you leave the station you'll pass Yanaka Cemetery, worth a visit for the interesting gnarled cherry trees even when they're not in flower. There you may have your first encounter with the wandering cats that are mascots of the neighborhood.

Continue down the hill from the station and you'll come to a broad staircase leading down to Yanaka Ginza, where the visitor can find old and new crafts, old and new food, and souvenirs and gifts. A Western-style bakery that boasts of an oven made with stone from Mount Fuji stands next to a shop that sells traditional Japanese sweets. There's a shop entirely devoted to items handcrafted from bamboo, a tiny stall where you can get T-shirts custom-printed with illustrations of various animals, and a shop that sells traditional wooden and straw-rope sandals.

You'll see the feline motif throughout, from a modern gift shop of cat-themed gifts to a shop that sells the traditional bean paste-filled cakes usually made in the shape of a fish, but here, of course, in the form of a cat. If you're hesitant about a bean-flavored dessert, order one of the soft ice-cream cones and it'll come with a tiny one to sample.