Ameya-Yokochō (Ameyoko), Ueno

A market street running under and alongside the JR tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi stations, with roughly 400 shops packed into a few narrow blocks. The name is said to derive either from candy sellers (ame) or from the black-market American goods (also ame) traded here after the war. Today it mixes fresh seafood and produce stalls with cheap eats — grilled skewers, fried snacks, steamed buns — and dense crowds, especially on weekends.