Gyomu Super Shinjuku Okubo Store — Supermarket in Shin-Okubo, Tokyo

This is a branch of the Gyomu Super chain, set on Hyakunincho in Shin-Okubo, and the neighbourhood shows on the shelves. The shop is not big, and the range reflects the international clientele walking through: glass noodles sit alongside the usual discount staples, and there are boxed Kit Kats that work as a small edible gift.

The pantry picks are worth the trip. Banshu Chinese noodles come in a one-kilogram pack made in Tatsuno City, the kind of thing you keep for the evening the fridge is empty. Sake lees in 500g bottles go for roughly half the usual price, a substitute when you are hunting rice koji. Frozen thin-skinned mando dumplings are the other reason to come back, and there is chocolate jam that one regular buys on every visit.

The alcohol range is broad and cheaper than a regular supermarket. What you walk into is a warehouse-like room: cardboard stacked high, narrow aisles, and bags packed at a stand on the side of the road.

A basket lands around ¥1,000–3,000, which is the point of the place. The trade-off is cash only, with no credit cards and no Gyomuca, and no tax-free counter for tourists. Queues at the register build in the evening, and the space in front of the checkout is tight enough that you step around other baskets.

Staff will walk you to a section when you cannot find something, and the checkout moves faster than the line suggests. What it is not is a calm, roomy shop with meat: there is no meat counter at all, and the crowding is constant. Come for the imported dry goods and the frozen dumplings, with cash in hand.