Yanaka Ginza Yūyake Dandan

The Yūyake Dandan staircase descends from the high ground of the Yanaka neighborhood toward the shopping street below. The name translates to sunset stairs, a title earned by the view of the horizon framed perfectly by the surrounding rooftops. In the nineteen nineties, a stray cat named Happy claimed these concrete steps as a permanent perch. Local residents grew accustomed to stepping around her as she napped, turning the staircase into a shared neighborhood space that felt like a quiet living room.