Kanda is said to be a "curry town." On the weekend of October 27–28, the Kanda Ogawa Plaza event site (3-6 Ogawa-cho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku) will host the Kanda Curry Grand Prix 2012.
Over these two days (some events begin on the 26th), it is one highlight of the "Chiyoda Autumn Festival" held across the Kanda area. The autumn festival combines three familiar events: the 53rd Tokyo Kanda Used Book Festival, the 22nd Jimbocho Book Festival, and the 18th Kanda Sports Festival 2012 (photo below, from the organizer's website). At Ogawa Plaza — the main venue for the sports festival centered on sporting-goods shops along Yasukuni-dori in the Ogawa-cho area — the Curry GP returns for a second year after last year's debut (alongside a Tohoku recovery fair, sports experiences, jazz events, and more).
Curry shops do stand out in Kanda, and according to the Kanda Curry District Revitalization Committee, the concentration is said to reach 100 or even 150 outlets (including not only specialty shops but cafes, coffee shops, ethnic restaurants, izakaya, and bars that serve curry). Indian, Thai, European, Japanese, and Chinese styles abound with distinctive flavors that delight diners daily — too good an asset not to use for local revitalization. After "used-book town," "sporting-goods town," and "musical-instrument town," Kanda is promoting a fourth identity: "curry town."
For visitors, the main question is which curry to eat. The official site (http://kanda-curry.com/) profiles 24 participating shops, and a free "official guidebook" to the curry district is being distributed. Research ahead of time and seek out standout dishes. Each serving costs 400–600 yen (portions are smaller than usual so you can try several), and you receive one voting ticket per serving to choose the grand prize and second and third places (photo above: last year's voting booth, from the free paper "Osanpo Jimbocho" website).
The video newsletter Fan+ sponsors the event; register free at the dedicated page (http://fanplus.jp/_kandacurry_/) to access official content and receive a 200-yen discount ticket.
Perfect blog material — last year's first edition drew many photo-rich reports ("I ate six bowls!"). This blog covered it too.
Palaceside Building near Takebashi also has many shops serving excellent curry. It really drives home how much Japanese people love curry.
The venue is a little over ten minutes on foot from Palaceside Building. On the 27th and 28th during the day, free loop buses (two routes, transfer at Otemachi) will circle Jimbocho–Ogawa-cho–Akihabara–Kanda–Nihonbashi–Otemachi and Yurakucho–Otemachi, with a temporary stop in front of Palaceside Building: "Takebashi Mainichi Newspapers."