East of Shin-Okubo Station, fluorescent lights beam over immaculate rows of pop idol merchandise and imported skincare products while teenage girls line up outside for coin-shaped, cheese-filled buns. On the west side, ads in a jumble of languages telegraph Asian cosmopolitanism along with the crowds of workers lining up for their favorite kebab, curry or banh mi. Try out this itinerary to explore the two sides of Tokyo¡¯s most diverse neighborhood and for a taste-test of flavors from Manila to Tashkent.

Conveniently located one stop north of Shinjuku on the Yamanote Line, Shin-Okubo gets crowded ¡ª especially by midafternoon, when swarms of Japanese youngsters mob the neighborhood¡¯s Korean variety stores and fashionable cafes serving Instagram-ready desserts.

It¡¯s more relaxing to come early and munch on tteokbokki rice cakes or bibimbap (rice mixed with meat and vegetables) at one of the many 24-hour Korean diners, like or , until most of the shops open at 10 or 11 a.m. After a hot meal, you¡¯ll be ready to take on the chaotic, multicolored Okubo-Dori shopping street, where an assortment of signs in Korean, Japanese and English meets the eye.

The neighborhood¡¯s origins can be traced back to the 1980s. The Okubo area was then a residential area for foreigners, many of whom were from South Korea, Taiwan or the Philippines and worked late hours in Kabukicho, the red-light district directly south.

Hirokazu Murohashi, 51, a journalist and author of ¡°Rupo Shin-Okubo,¡± a book about the neighborhood¡¯s multicultural character, says it was the 2002 World Cup in Seoul that kicked off the latest South Korea boom. Korea-centric shops in Okubo became more profitable with the rise of K-dramas and then K-pop in short succession. ¡°Before that, it was just a chaotic international village with a few Koreans,¡± Murohashi says. ¡°But now, top Korean brands set up their second shops in Shin-Okubo, right after Seoul.¡±

Shin Hyewon, an assistant professor at Utsunomiya University, explains that although Okubo and Shin-Okubo are geographically overlapping areas, most people tend to think of them as separate entities. Okubo has the image of ¡°a residential place of multicultural coexistence¡± and Shin-Okubo ¡°a lively tourist destination.¡± But in reality, the two Okubos exist in and on top of one another, both on the map and in terms of culture.

With your belly full, it¡¯s time for a Korean shopping spree. First stop is K-pop merchandise at Idol Park. The staff tells you that the top seller right now is a tin can featuring your favorite idol, whose face graces everything from calendars to CDs. After that, hit up Skin Garden for makeup and skincare, with products from almost every Korean cosmetic brand under the sun....