Immermannstraße Japanese Quarter

Immermannstraße is a short street near Düsseldorf's main railway station, in the Stadtmitte district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and is the centre of one of the largest Japanese communities in Europe. Japanese companies began settling in Düsseldorf in the 1950s and 1960s, and the street and nearby Klosterstraße and Oststraße gradually filled with restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, bookshops and services aimed at the community. Today it is a compact and lively strip where visitors can eat ramen, sushi, udon, katsu curry and izakaya dishes, often in small restaurants with counters and menus in Japanese. Several bakeries sell Japanese-style pastries, melon pan and cream-filled buns, while supermarkets stock sauces, snacks, tea, sake and ingredients that are hard to find elsewhere in Germany. The Japanese Cultural Centre and offices linked to the community are nearby. A visit usually takes 1 to 2 hours, mostly for a meal and a browse, and a ramen lunch commonly costs around EUR 12 to 16. The street is busiest at lunch from noon to 2:00PM and in the evening, when queues can form at popular ramen shops, so arriving early or in mid-afternoon gives easier seating. Many restaurants close on Mondays or between lunch and dinner service. The area is free to walk through, and photos of illuminated signs and storefronts work well at dusk. It makes a good combination with the Japanese Garden in the Nordpark and the Ekō-Haus, and it is a short walk from the station, so it also suits a quick meal between trains. Japan Day, held each year in early summer along the Rhine, draws many people from this community and is a lively time to be in the city.