Shibamata Fu-Ten

If you don't mind staying at the very eastern edge of Tokyo and are looking for a real shitamachi experience, then this new hostel might be of interest. Run by the folks behind equally imaginative inns like Bakurocho's Irori and Train Hostel Hokutosei, Fu-Ten is set in picturesque Shibamata, famed for the majestic Taishakuten temple and as the home of Showa-era film hero Tora-san, and occupies an old apartment building formerly used by Katsushika ward's public servants. Fully renovated, it now houses both Japanese-style tatami rooms and modern lodgings – some of the Western-style rooms also have their own showers. Rates start at an affordable ¥4,000 (per head in a two-person room).