Shimokitazawa’s south-side shotengai (shopping street) and the north-side back lanes are both awning-covered for nearly their entire run — the canvas-and-corrugated-plastic roof network stays continuous block after block. Combined with the second-floor balconies on the residential interiors, summer afternoons in Shimokita feel like a low-key Bangkok arcade walk.
These three keep you under awning the whole way. Most of the cafés on the back lanes open their entire frontage in summer, which means the awning effectively becomes part of the storefront.