I have been staying in Ikebukuro in Toshima ward for several years, whenever I’m traveling to Japan. It’s economical, it’s near the Yamanote Line and there is an interesting charm to the area especially when you visit the West and East side of the area.
The west area, which many consider a bit seedy because of its love hotels, host clubs, adult locations, bars, and its parks of homeless, it also has this image of being unsafe and probably in the ’70s and ’80s, it was like that.
Now if there are issues, from what I’ve seen, it’s mainly alcohol related, public drunkenness.
But it’s much different from the commercial, vibrant East side where people go for shopping and for restaurants or family hangouts. But it’s very interesting to see how things look when you see the differences from the East Exit area to the West Exit Area.
But I do stay in the west area when I visit Japan, because it’s one of the cheapest areas to book hotels if you want to visit Japan, stay in Tokyo and be right near the Yamanote Line.
