代々木
Yoyogi
(never ending trees)
Yoyogi Park is one of Tōkyō’s greatest parks. It’s pretty much beautiful all year long, but it’s really famous for cherry blossoms in the spring. It attracts a younger and less conventional crowd, including foreigners. For history nerds there is very little to see here unless you search the grounds of 明治神宮 Meiji Jingū the Meiji Shrine for the remnants of the Ii clan’s estate (of which virtually nothing is left).
In my original article, I went into detail about the etymology of this location. But even if you don’t care about Japanese history, Yoyogi Park is a lot of fun. It is without a doubt, one of the most exciting public spaces in Tōkyō. In terms of liveliness, it ranks in my top 3 “party parks” with Ueno Park and Inokashira Park. But all three parks are distinct. There’s no true comparison.
This station gives you access to:
Further Reading:
- Wanna read my article about Mitaka? (relates to Inokashira Park)
- Wanna read my original article about Yoyogi? (relates to the Ii clan)
- Wanna read my article about the Kanda River? (relates to Inokashira Park)
新宿
Shinjuku
(new post town)
If you’ve been following this series from the beginning, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve come full circle. The Ōedo Line begins at Shinjuku Nishiguchi, the east side of Shinjuku Station. From this point on, we’re going to venture outside of shōgun’s capital. In the Edo Period, this area was on the outskirts of the city. It was suburban along the 青梅街道 Ōme Kaidō Ōme Highway and 甲州街道 Kōshū Kaidō Kōshū Highway and more or less country if you veered off the main roads.
Foreigners used to call the “rape tunnel” because it was so shady at night, but now it’s well lit and actually features all the post town of the Ōme Kaidō and Kōshū Kaidō .
To the best of my knowledge, no one has been raped in there. It’s just a really off color joke by foreigners that I heard. Nevertheless, the horrible nickname persists.
Shinjuku Station gives you access to almost the whole world. It’s one of the busiest train stations in the world. The name literally means “New Post Town” and refers to its old name as 内藤新宿 Naitō-Shinjuku. Naitō was the daimyō family that had an estate here on the Kōshū Highway which led to modern day Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures. Once their estate was built, a post town for travelers popped up. In the post war era, the name Naitō was dropped and the area has officially been known as Shinjuku ever since.
Want to read more?
- Wanna read my original article about Shinjuku? (it’s old and not so good)[i]
- Wanna read my updated article on Shinjuku? (it’s from the future and good)
- Shinjuku gets talked about a lot on this blog.
- Yodobashi is a related place name!
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[i] Before the end of 2015, I will have a comprehensive article about Shinjuku. I promise.
