Haruki Murakami · Kanto, Tokyo

Following Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 to the Sangenjaya Expressway Stairs: A Literary Travel Guide

Find the real emergency staircase off Tokyo's Shuto Expressway where Aomame climbs down into an altered world at the start of 1Q84 — now one of the most visited real-world Murakami sites in Tokyo.

1Q84 (2009–10) opens with Aomame stuck in a taxi on the Metropolitan Expressway, and does something few novels do: it sends its heroine down a real emergency staircase to escape — and in doing so, into a subtly altered version of 1984 Tokyo. That staircase isn't invented. It exists, exactly where the novel says it does, and has become one of the most reliably visited real-world locations tied to any Murakami book.

Stop 1: The emergency staircase, Shuto Expressway Route 3

Aomame's taxi is stuck on the elevated Shibuya Route (3号渋谷線) near Sangenjaya, and she climbs down an emergency staircase near the Ikejiri exit to reach Route 246 below. The staircase — narrow, exposed steel, spiraling down the support column — is real infrastructure, built for expressway maintenance and emergencies rather than sightseeing, but it's clearly visible from street level, and fans have marked it with "1Q84" graffiti over the years.

• Getting there: Sangenjaya Station or Ikejiri-Ohashi Station (both Tokyu Denentoshi Line), then walk toward the Route 246/Metropolitan Expressway junction between the two. The staircase is visible from the street below — you can't climb it (it's for expressway emergency use only), but the view from ground level is the point.
• Good to know: This is a real piece of expressway infrastructure in an ordinary Tokyo neighborhood, not a tourist attraction — there's no signage, and it's easy to walk past without knowing what you're looking at. Have a photo of the scene from the book or film adaptation on hand for reference.

In the novel: Koenji and central Tokyo

Much of 1Q84's second half is anchored in Koenji, a quieter residential neighborhood in Suginami where Tengo lives — real, walkable, and worth a visit if you're already tracing Murakami's Tokyo, though the novel doesn't tie him to a specific identifiable building the way the Sangenjaya stairs are pinned down.

Practical travel notes

• Best time to visit: Any time — this is a street-level city view, not a seasonal one.
• Base yourself in: central Tokyo; Sangenjaya is a short ride from most central neighborhoods on the Denentoshi Line.
• The book itself: the standard English translation (Books 1–2 by Jay Rubin, Book 3 by Philip Gabriel) is published by Knopf/Vintage.