Tokaido Walk (5) Totsuka-Fujisawa: Dec.11, 2010

I had the 5th part of my Tokaido walk. It was from Totsuka (the 5th shukuba station, in current Yokohama city) to Fujisawa (the 6th station, in current Fujisawa city).



Most parts of old Tokaido in the area has turned into National Rout 1. The roads are generally hilly, but houses are built along the roads. I found many houses and apartments spread at the foot of a hill when I watched down from a hilltop.

A long-distance relay race (Tokyo-Hakone) among major universities is held every new-year season and the race attracts the attention of many Japanese. Old Tokaido is used for the race. I found manhole covers with relay-race design.

Chofu City; Dec. 4, 2010

The most popular (recognized) phrase of the year is a common topic at year end among Japanese people.

A publisher Jiyu-kokuminsha announced the popular phrase of 2010 in late November. It was “Gegege”, a phrase taken from an essay’s title “the Wife of Gegege”. The essay focuses on the life of a famous comic writer Shigeru Mizuki and his wife.

Chofu Cit, western suburb of Tokyo, is where Mizuki and his family live.

We found his comic characters in the town. They include Kitaro,

Negzumi Otoko and Neko Musume – all are lovely monsters with miracle powers.

They sell Kitaro related goods at the city’s tourist center.

Higashi Ikuta Green Field (off Tokyo) ：Nov. 27, 2010

I walked in a walking path developed through green fields in Ikuta, Kawasaki city.

The area was an undeveloped hill until the 1950s. Many houses and apartments were developed after the 1960s.

The hills were covered with various trees including sawtooth oak, quercus serrata, cedar, cherry, gigko, and bamboos. The hills were colored with green, yellow and red.

I stepped up a long stair which leads me to reservoir. The stair is more than 200 steps. The view from the top was fantastic.

A small shrine was in the field. A red shrine gate and a yellow gingko tree made a good contrast.

Autumn Color @ Koishikawa Botanical Gardens: Nov. 23, 2010

Ask Tokyo’s people the best place to enjoy autumn red of maple. Many people may answer “It’s Koishikawa Botanical Gardens”.



There are tens of maple trees in both side of a small street in the garden.



Several trees were all red. Many had partly green and partly red leaves. The combination of red and green was so impressive.

There were many gingko trees, too. Some of them were nearly 20 meter high.

The leaves of Enkianthus were also turned red. I enjoyed the combination of red, yellow and green leaves in the Japanese garden.

Autumn Color @ Meijijingu Gaien: Nov. 23, 2010

I visited Maijijingu Gaien (outer garden) with my guest today to enjoy autumn color of gingko trees. The gingko trees are famous in Tokyo and they hold “Gingko Festival” in November.

I also visited the place last year. I choose the gingko street (with some other options) when I am asked the best places to enjoy Tokyo’s autumn color.

There are 146 gingko trees in 300-meter street.

The contrast of yellow leaves and blue sky is impressive.

The smell of gingko fruits was also impressive.

There were many open-air stalls in the festival site. The foods included Central Asian chicken food, Thai noodles, Chinese foods and many kinds of Japanese cooks.

Autumn Color @ Hanegi Park: Nov. 21, 2010

The color of the trees changes every day in this season. I visited Hanegi Park in Setagaya ward today.
The park was colored with red, yellow, brown and green.

Men and women were walking (sometimes with their dogs) in the park. Children were playing on the grounds covered with fallen leaves.

Tokaido Walk (4) Kanagawa-Totsuka (off Tokyo): Nov. 20, 2010

I took the part 4 of my Tokaido walk today. It was from Yokohama (Kanagawa shukuba station) to Totsuka shukuba station.

Old Tokaido runs through residential area near JR Yokohama station.

The road was flat from Nihonbashi (Tokyo) to Kanagawa Shukuba station (near Yokohama). Passing Yokohama, I found hills in the north side of the road. Houses and apartments spread to the very foot of the hills.

Between Yokohama and Hodogaya, I found followings:

- A small shopping street named Matsubara Street. Matsubara means a seaside field of pine trees. The place was quite near to the sea in the Edo era.

- An old bridge preserved in a small park near Tennoji railway station. It has been moved from nearby Kiji River. (top picture)

- The first meeting of old Tokaido and National Rout 1. Old Tokaido has been converted into Nation Rout 1 in many parts between Yokohama and Kyoto. Both roads run in parallel in other parts.

Hodogaya is the 4th shukuba station from Nihonbashi. Old hotels and station facilities remain here. JR Hodogaya Satation was build near the shukuba station.

Between Hodogaya and Totsuka, the 6th shukuba station, I found

- Old Tokaido, National Rout 1 and JR Tokaido Line run in parallel near Hodogaya.

- A steep slope called Gonta-zaka. This was the first hard place to walk for the travelers from Nihonbashi in the Edo era.

- The border between old Musashi prefecture and and Sagami prefecture. The former covers current Tokyo, eastern Kanagawa and southern Saitama while the latter covers western Kanagawa.

- Shinano-saka. Parts of the road were developed at the foot of cliffs.

- Shinano Milestone: The original form is preserved here. There is a pair of 9-meter-square milestones in both side of the road. Nettle trees were planted in the squares.

- Factories of Bridgestone, Polar Cosmetic, Yamazaki Bred and other companies: They stand along National Rout 1.

I arrived at JR Totsuka station. It is more than 40 km from Nihonbashi. Fast travellers walked the course (Nihonbashi-Totsuka) in a day in the Edo period.

University of Tokyo: Nov. 13, 2010

University of Tokyo is the most famous and the highest ranked university in Japan. Its Hongo campus is about 2 kilometers north from the Imperial Palace.
It has many historical spots.

The place was originally a private house of the ruler of Kaga Han (now Ishikawa Prefecture) in the Edo era. Akamon or “Red Gate” was the main gate of the house and now a symbol of the university.
Sanshiro Pond is in the center of the university and is surrounded by deep woods. It was described in a famous novel titled “Sanshiro” written by Natsume Soseki, a great novelist in the Meiji period. The leaves were changing their colors.

Yasuda Kodo (Yasuda Hall) is a hall with more than 1000 seats. It was built in 1925. It is also a symbol of the student revolution movement in the 1960s.
The students occupied the hall as the center of the movement and the police force expelled them in 1968. The “battle” was televised. The hall was not used for around 20 years after the incident.

Autumn color @ Yoyogi Park: Nov. 7, 2010

Tokyo is now changing its colors. The autumn colors (yellow and red) has started.

I visited Yoyogi Park today.

The gingko leaves have changed from green to yellow.

The leaves were partly green, yellow and red in the Yoyogi Park.

People were jogging and walking under the trees. Some grounds were covered with fallen leaves.

It is autumn.

Tokaido Walk (3) Kawasaki～Yokohama (off Tokyo)：Nov. 6, 2010

I took the 3rd part of my Tokaido Walk today. It was from Kawasaki to Kanagawa shukuba (Edo period’s station), which is near today’s JR (Japan Railways) Yokohama station.

The old Tokaido runs through the central part of Kawasaki city. The old road has converted into a shopping street in the central part of Kawasaki city. Monuments and sign boards tell the history of the Kawasaki shukuba station. Old Kawasaki shukuba station had more than 70 inns in the Edo period.

There is a monument of Haiku poet Matsuo Basho at the west end of the old station. Historical temples remain here and there.
I also found a monument to console the soil of dead people near Basho’s monument. Countless people who died during their travels were buried here (just outside the shukuba station) in the Edo era. Many bones were found after the Meiji period. The bones also tell us the reality of the travel in the Edo period.

I crossed Tsurumi River and entered into Tokohama City. Small residence houses stand along old Tokaido. What I found included:

- Milestones: The Tokugawa government built milestones in every 4 kilometers along Tokaido.

- A ruin of old gate: the gate checked the people who tried to enter Kanagawa shukuba station. Many foreign people lived in Kanagawa shukuba station in the end of Edo period. Some extreme Japanese wanted to expel foreigners and tried to attack them. The Tokugawa government tried to prevent such actions and built the gate.

- Trueumi Station (Keihin Kyuko): the station is built along old Tokaido. The old road is now uses as a shopping street in front of the station.

- A monument of Namamugi Incident: A British was killed by Japanese soldiers of Satsuma (Kagoshima) domain in 1862 (late Edo period) when the British tried to cross the road just before the Satsuma load tried to pass the point (The British was expected to wait and bow). The incident led Satsuma and the Britain to have a war, which became one of the important moves to the Meiji Revolution.

- A huge factory of Kirin Brewery: it is just behind the Namamugi Incident Monument.
The Old Tokaido road meets the National Rout 15 again at Namamugi area.

I walked westward along the National Rout 15, passed Shin-Koyasu and Higashi Kanagawa and arrived at Old Kanagawa shukuba station. Small Takinogawa River flows in the shukuba station.
Kanagawa had a good port and the Tokugawa government opened the area (along with several other areas) for foreigners in the late Edo period.
A part of old Tokaido has become a small shopping street here. Some temples remain here. They were used as boarding housed for foreigners in the late Edo era.
I passed the shukuba station and arrived at the nearest point to current JR Yokohama station.

Mt. Takao: Nov. 3, 2010

I climbed Mt. Takao in Hachioji City, western Tokyo.

The mountain may be most popular in great Tokyo area. It is 599m high. It takes only an hour from central Tokyo to the mountain.

The problem is -- it is too crowded in the peak seasons (the golden week holidays in May and the autumn color season in November).

I started climbing it in the afternoon to avoid the “traffic jam” (of the hikers) there.

The mountain have been worshipped by people. Shrines have been built and roads have been developed for the visitors. Some parts are now paved.

I found sculptures of Buddhism gods and Teng (long-nosed demons) in the shrines.

The mountain roads were not so steep. I found many huge cedar trees standing along the roads.
Only a few trees (maple etc.) have changed the color of their leaves. Full scale autumn red is expected in late November.

There was a big joy after the climb. Restaurant at the foot of the mountain served river fishes. It was sooooo nice.

Map: Mt. Takao

Harvest Festival @Nodai: Oct. 31, 2010

I visited the Harvest Festival of Nodai (Tokyo University of Agriculture) again. I　visited it on the same day (October 31th) last year.

There were many open-air stalls. They sold vegetables, fruits, flowers and other agricultural products. Some of them were from local villages where the university has its fields.

I bought a piece of tree trunk in which the seeds of Shiitake mushroom were planted. I will pick up some mushrooms in a few months if I am lucky.

I also visited the university’s coop store. Nodai brand Japanese sake, rice cakes and other products were sold.

English learning and job hunting books were popular in the book corner. There were many biology and agriculture-related books, too. Packs of organic rice were also sold.

The reputation of the university is getting better and the university is expanding its activities. Bio-technology and environment boom is behind the moves. I found a new building under construction.

Map: Tokyo University of Agriculture

Tokaido Walk(2) Omori-Kawasaki: Oct.11, 2010

Today is National Sports Day (2nd Monday of October).

Newspapers reported sports and health-related news. Many sports events were held throughout the nation.

I had the second part of my Tokaido walk. it was from Suzugamori (near JR Omori Station) to Kawaseki, the second shukuba station of the route.

Most part of Old Tokaido has been converted into the National Route 15 in the area. Still, some parts keep the old atmosphere.

About 1 kilometer-long Mihara Street is one of such example. There are small shops and restaurants along the narrow street. Traffic signs show “it is old Tokaido”.

Various marine products such as sea moss were produced here from the Edo period till early 20th century. Monuments in the street shows such history.

I again walked down the Route 15 southward. The trafic was heavy and I saw few people walking along the road. It is industrial area.

There are many small machine and parts manufacturers in Ota Ward. Some of them have world-class high technologies. It is said that the competitiveness of Japanese economy owes a lot to the area.

I arrived at the Tamagawa River, which devide Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. They did not have a bridge over the river in the Edo era (except early Edo period) and people crossed the river by boats. The crossing point was called "Rokugo no watashi". There is a monument of the point.

I looked down the river from the bridge. The water was beautiful. I also found temporary shelters and blue plastic houses  in the riverfields. Many homeless people live here.

I entered Kawasaki City. It is about 15 minutes walk from Rokugo crossing point to JR Kawasaki Station.

Inns, stables and other travel facilities spread in the area in the Edo period. Now, stores, offices and amusement shops spread.

Map: Rokugo