Tokyo ANKYO (Old River) Street

As you may learn from popular TV travel show “BURATAMORI”, there exist many land-filled rivers and canals or ANKYO (culvert, old-river) in Tokyo. Interestingly and mysteriously, many of those culverts are transformed into fascinating streets where many people gather. From this blog, I would like to tour with you of some ANKYO streets in Tokyo where the god of the river sleeps. Well then, let’s walk “Yanaka” town first from now on.

[Map 1] AIZOME-GAWA River used to cut across the center of law land YANESEN     The river flows parallel to KASUGA-DORI street where the Chiyoda Line runs underground. Currently “Yomise-dori Street (Night Market Street)” and “Hebi-michi Road (Snake Road)” where pedestrians and bicycles are actively occupying or urban spine of everyday life. Photoshoped from Google Map (Map data © 2020 Google)

YANESEN

Yanaka is one of the popular districts often featured in various travel TV programs and magazines. The large area spreading from Taito Ward to Bunkyo Ward is called particularly YA-NE-SEN (Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi), and the sense of presence is rising up as a hotspot of small new urban culture in Japan. Yanaka is so called TERAMACHI (Temple Town) scattering many temples and graveyards. Although broad urban void “Yanaka Cemetery” where the Tokugawa Shogun Family burying, symbolizes one of the most famous characters of the district, Yanaka or YANESEN, located next to the Art University of Tokyo in Ueno and the Tokyo University in Hongo, categorizes as cultural neighborhood where students, university professors and artists have traditionally and collectively lived. Thanks to the miraculously unaffected by the war, the plenty of old houses and alleys are still surviving. Such valuable old urban fabric is the greatest magnet of this district. Recently, foreign tourists visit YANESEN in search of authentic and “cool” downtown scenery in Japan. Old wooden townhouses and residences have been gradually renovated and revived as cafes, galleries, and inns such as for Airbnb short stay. When you enter the street from the intersection of Uenosakuragi, you will find the showcase of old buildings from the Meiji to the Showa era such as “Former Yoshidaya Sake Brewery Shop”, “Kayaba Coffee”, “Sky The Bathhouse” gallery conversion from traditional public bathhouse, and “ATARI [Photo 1]” renovated commercial campus used to be traditional collective housing cluster with small cul-de-sac, NAGAYA. You can walk there from Ueno Park in a minute.

[Photo 1] “ATARI”     Renovation of NAGAYA, traditional urban cluster housing. A commercial complex consisting of restaurants such as beer hall and bakery and multi-purpose rental space mainly for exhibition. When you enter this alley or cul-de-sac, you can feel a sense of immersion as if you are back in the old world of Showa era surrounded by Nagaya rowhouses.

Yanaka = Lowland = Downtown

I would assume that the origin of the place name “Yanaka” does represents not the hill of Yanaka Cemetery , “Ya-Naka” literally means “Valley-Center”, but the valley between the Hongo plateau in the west and the hill of Yanaka in the east, that is, Yanaka characterizes “lowland = downtown”.  Aizome River flows the exact center of “lowland = downtown”. It runs north and south from Nagaike in the former Komagome Village in Toshima Ward to Shinobazu Pond in Ueno [Map1]. As it was named “Aizomegawa” or “Indigo Dyeing River”, the dyeing industry was used to be thriving along the river. One of the popular destinations “Yanaka Ginza” is main approach slope connecting from west side lowland Downton area along the River to east side High-land Temple Town.

[Photo2] “Yanaka Ginza”     There locates various tiny shops for tourists. The width of the street is about 3 to 4 meters, everyday-busy alley like Hokousya-tengoku (Pedestrian Paradise), very popular tourist destination in Yanaka. When you walk up the street from this gate, you will soon get to Yanaka Cemetery.

Yomisedori Street (Nightmarket Street)

Walking through “Yanaka Ginza” from the high land of Yanaka Cemetery, you will arrive at the Tsuji-intersection [Photo 2].  Yomise-dori is a shopping street that goes to the left or down to the south from this crossing. This is the everywhere street for daily shopping, everyday living space for locals, with greengrocer, fishmonger, “supermarket” (the “supermarket” in the Showa era in shopping street are reasonably small), convenience store, and multi-tenant buildings. Such human scenery where you can go shopping by “Mamachari (Mother’s Bike)” remains in the core of Tokyo.

[Photo3] “Yomisedori Street (Nightmarket Street)”     Contrast to Yanaka Ginza mainly for visitors, Yomisedori is a real Shitamachi (low-town or downtown) street that supports the daily lives of locals such as fishmonger, greengrocer, and small “supermarket”.

Hebi-michi Road (Snake Road)

Let’s continue walking toward south (to Ueno) along the old river. After passing through the spine of ” Yomisedori Street “, you will come to a winding or snaky-curved road called “Hebimichi”. The narrow maze-like road and the sequence of masonry block walls and hedges of residential blocks have something interesting vibes, and this is the one, the ANKYO (culvert), exactly looking for!  However, you are in a quiet residential area, please stay calm during walk. Along this even residential “Hebimichi Road”, fashionably renovated shops are gradually popping up. According to the radio I happened to hear the other day, an actor Maiko Kawakami, one of the characters of the first series of “KINPACHI SENSEI”, runs a store around here of Swedish accessories and glass works made by her own. Let’s get back to the walk, after passing this “snaky-curved” Hebimichi experience, the road becomes a little wider and straighter. In a sense, it is “normal” townscape with a mixture of shops, houses, buildings and parking lots. Let’s go pass through quickly. Go further down the street and cross Kototoi street, you will get back to the alley world and discover the stone building, Ishiguura (Warehouse made by stone) [Photo 4]. This is the building renovated into a Udon noodle shop while maintaining the original appearance of Ishigura, designed by Kengo Kuma. The other day when I was guided friends to Yanaka, we did stop by this Udon for supper but we could not have it because the reservation was full even though it was a weekday evening. This was a second trial for me, the first challenge 2 or 3 yeas ago for lunch was at the out of service or closing day. Although I will try, at the final third time lucky, to revenge someday, we could find, at the first time lucky, a good Soba noodle restaurant run by twin sisters instead. After all, I much prefer Soba for Sake. If you have a chance to visit Yanaka, please experience not only popular tourist spots in High-land temple town and “Yanaka Ginza” but also “Sitamachi downtown street” along on the old Aizome River, where you can feel its real and lively vibes!

[Photo4] “KAMACHIKU”     A Udon noodle restaurant renovated from Ishigura, a warehouse made by stone masonry. Like the old scape of Nihonbashi river in Edo period, this is the memory of the river where many Kura (warehouses) were lined up along.

Hiroyuki Niino , Oct25, 2020