Home Video Game Tourist A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo 2 | Sangenjaya Locations

A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo 2 | Sangenjaya Locations

A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Sangenjaya / Yongenjaya Sights
A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Sangenjaya / Yongenjaya Sights

Exploring Ren Amamiya’s home ground of Yongenjaya. Known in real-life as Sangenjaya!


To get all confusion out of the way, Persona 5’s Yongenjaya (四軒茶屋) neighbourhood is heavily based on a small part of Tokyo’s Sangenjaya (三軒茶屋) neighbourhood. Yogenjaya isn’t real, but Sangenjaya is.

Personally, I’m still puzzled as to why the name was changed; Atlus went ahead to use Shibuya, Akihabara, and so on. One other important thing to note about the neighbourhood is that while it isn’t as modern as Shibuya or Ginza, it’s certainly no backwater too (As portrayed in the game). The heart of Sangenjaya is but a few minutes by local train from Shibuya Station. The area was lively when I visited.

As for my two-hour visit, overall, it was pleasant. Not as heady as my exploration of Shibuya Persona 5 sights, but nonetheless still very enjoyable. Oh, there was a slight downer. As in, I didn’t manage to see one of the most recognizable sights in the game.

Outside of that, I easily located all other P5 Yogenjaya sights within minutes. I even had a very enjoyable lunch. At a café I consider to be the real-life version of Sojiro’s Café Leblanc.


Screenshots copyright property of Atlus, etc etc.
Sangenjaya Station itself is two stops away from Shibuya Station on the Tokyu Den’en Toshi Line. (Not a JR or Tokyo Metro Line, take note) The “alley” is located here.


Sangenjaya Station

Persona 5 Sangenjaya Station.
Arriving at Sangenjaya Station. Looks pretty much the same as the version in the game. Yes?
A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Sangenjaya Station Tunnel
There’s a long, modern tunnel in Sangenjaya Station. This was omitted from Persona 5.

Sangenjaya / Persona 5 Yongenjaya Neighbourhood

Persona 5 Yongen Jaya Real Life
SSangenjaya back alleys. Persona 5’s “Yongenjaya” completely captured the feel of the real life neighbourhood.
A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Sangenjaya Grocer
The Yogenjaya produce shop! This was very easy to find.
Sangenjaya Batting Center
The batting centre. (I didn’t go up. Look at those steps!)

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Okay. Time for the downer. One of the most distinctive sights in the game is the Fuji no Yu sento right opposite Leblanc. In real-life, it’s called the Chiyo no Yu, and all I found was this:

A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Chiyonoyu 2018
The sento was closed!

This was a terrible mistake of mine. Beforehand, I didn’t properly check Google Maps and so I didn’t realise the sento only opens at 3.45pm! (I was there at noon, and I couldn’t stay as I was short of time) Actually, when researching Maps, I assumed the place was closed for good. Anyhow, the only thing I could do there and then was to move on. And so I turned and headed into …

A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo | Rain on the Roof Cafe
The café just opposite the closed sento.

P5 Café Leblanc in “Real-Life”

To answer the question that’s on most new Persona 5 players’ minds, Leblanc doesn’t exist in real-life. But right where Leblanc is in the game i.e. opposite the sento, is a café that’s very much the nearest thing you can geek in. (By nearest, I don’t just mean geographically) Heading into it, I found …

Café Leblanc in Real Life
No grumpy Sojiro. No secretive high school students too! But the ambience, to me, is full marks. The café is called Rain on the Roof, by the way. (The name sounds perfect for a Persona soundtrack)
Rain on the Roof | Café Leblanc
Another view of Rain on the Roof. It really feels like Cafe Leblanc in real-life.
Curry Rice and Coffee Meal with Morgana at Rain on the Roof.
A Persona 5 lunch consisting of Indian Chicken Curry Rice and Iced Coffee! P5 fans will surely immediately know why I ordered these.

That’s it for my not-too-successful exploration of Sangenjaya. In the final post of this P5 real-life locations series, I’ll share images of Tokyo attractions found in the game.


Read my other Video Game Tourist posts.

Summary
Sangenjaya Sights: A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo 2
Article Name
Sangenjaya Sights: A Persona 5 Tourist in Tokyo 2
Description
Part 2 of my Persona 5 tourist in Tokyo series. This post focuses on Sangenjaya i.e. Yogenjaya sights and attractions!
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