Shimokitazawa Curry Fest (and a bonus curry from Osaka)

Curry is my favorite food in Japan. Prior to visiting Japan, I was only familiar with boxed Japanese curry, but the curry rice plates I got to try during my first visit to Japan opened my eyes to just how delicious and interesting Japanese curry could be.

That is why I was excited to learn that there was an entire Japanese curry festival happening during my second visit to Japan happening in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Basically, there are a little more than 100 curries to try at participating restaurants for much of October, and you can collect prizes based on the number of curries you try. I only went for 1 day, and I was only able to eat 4 before getting too full to continue. If you are passionate about Japanese curry and planning a trip to Japan, I highly recommend planning visiting Tokyo in October and dedicating a day to visiting Shimokitazawa for the festival.

Additionally, I also wanted to share my favorite curry of the trip (pic #7) which was located in Osaka and not part of the curry festival. I heard of this place because my favorite Japanese idol mentioned it was her favorite curry restaurant, and it was delicious beyond my expectations. I regret not ordering more.

I'll provide Google map links to the restaurants shown in a comment. You don't have to visit during the festival to enjoy their curries.