DISTANCE: 5km (3 miles)
TIME: A leisurely day
START: Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station
END: Ryogoku Station
POINTS TO NOTE: The above distance doesn’t include the subway ride from Monzen-Nakacho and Ryogoku, which is about 3km (2 miles). Avoid doing this walk on a Monday if you want to visit the art galleries and museums.
Relatively few visitors to Tokyo make it east across the Sumida River, even though the area is steeped in history and has a relaxed old Edo atmosphere and some notable sights. Not only does the district of Fukagawa have interesting temples, shrines and a traditional garden, but it is also making waves on the contemporary art scene as new galleries open up in empty riverside warehouses. North of Fukagawa is Ryogoku, a district primarily associated with sumo wrestling thanks to its being the location of the National Sumo Stadium. It’s also where you can find a wonderful museum devoted to the city’s history.
View from Eitaibashi Bridge
Getty Images
Fukagawa
Start at the Fukagawa Edo Museum 1 [map] (Fukagawa Edo Shiryokan; 1-3-28 Shirakawa, Koto-ku; www.kcf.or.jp/fukagawa/english.html; daily 9.30am–5pm, closed 2nd and 4th Mon; charge), a block directly south of Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station (take exit A3), where you can experience Fukagawa circa 1842, with evocative displays of homes, shops, a theatre, a boathouse tavern and even a 10m (33ft) fire tower.
The shopping street leading to the museum is charming. It features Reigan-ji 2 [map], a temple dating from 1624, which is best known for its early 18th-century bronze statue of a Jizo figure, seated on a lotus pedestal, and an award-winning public toilet with an Edo-era façade.
Kiyosumi Garden
Return to the crossroads, where Kiyosumi-dori and Kiyosubashi-dori intersect. Cross the road and follow Kiyosubashi-dori to the entrance to the beautiful Kiyosumi Garden 3 [map] (Kiyosumi Teien; http://teien.tokyo-park.or.jp/en/kiyosumi/; daily 9am–5pm; charge). This spacious classic sukiya-style garden, dating back to the Edo period and designed around a central pond, features an exquisite teahouse that appears to float majestically above the water. Look out for the 55 rare stones gathered from all over Japan by Iwasaki Yataro, the founder of Mitsubishi, who acquired the gardens in the 19th century.
A sumo wrestling motif by the Sumida River
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Three bridges
From Kiysumi head east to the Sumida River, the setting for what is one of the most interesting concentrations of bridges in Japan. A strong nostalgia is attached to these spans, and Tokyoites continue to celebrate them in songs, watercolours, films and novels. First up is the blue-painted Kiyosu-bashi 4 [map], a handsome suspension bridge built in 1928. From here, follow the riverside promenade south to Sumidagawa-ohashi 5 [map]; the bridge itself is unattractive due to the flyover above it, but there are great views up- and downstream. Continue for a few minutes until the more graceful blue girders of the 1926 Eitai-bashi 6 [map], one of the oldest bridges on the river, come into view.
Fukagawa history
The area gets its name from the late 16th-century local leader Fukagawa Hachiroemon, who was granted the land by Tokugawa Ieyasu and charged with draining and filling in the swamp that once existed here. In the late 17th century, following one of Tokyo’s perennial fires, the area began to boom, as lumber yards were relocated here and new bridges over the Sumida River facilitated commerce between the two sides of the city. At the same time, the area also became one of the city’s ‘unlicensed’ quarters where brothels, masquerading as teahouses, plied their business – a trade that continued right up to and a few years beyond World War II.
Fukagawa Fudo-do
Staying on this side of the river, walk east along Eitai-dori for about 900m/yds, until you reach the shopping parade around Monzen-Nakacho Station. Cross Kiyosumi-dori and turn left to find Fukagawa Fudo-do 7 [map], a busy temple of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The original early 18th-century temple was destroyed in World War II; this one, dating from 1862, was transported here from Chiba Prefecture outside of Tokyo. The narrow shopping street leading to the temple from exit 1 of Monzen-Nakacho Station is lined with small restaurants and stalls selling senbei rice crackers. Try Kintame, see 1, opposite the temple.
Tomioka Hachiman-gu
Just east of the temple is the Tomioka Hachiman-gu 8 [map], a shrine that is the focus of one of Tokyo’s greatest festivals, the mid-August Fukagawa Matsuri. A 1968 reconstruction of the 17th-century original, the current shrine has impressive prayer and spirit halls and a towering green copper-tiled roof. It is dedicated to eight deities, including Benten, goddess of beauty and the arts.
The shrine is strongly associated with sumo wrestling and in the Edo era was the official venue for the sport. Walk to the back of the shrine and you will see the Yokozuna Monument, engraved with the names of long-departed sumo wrestlers who reached the rank of ozeki, the highest in the sumo world.
Exit through the shrine’s main torii gate, and turn right to reach the subway at Monzen-Nakacho. Take the Oedo line three stops north to Ryogoku.
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Ryogoku
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Behind the station exit is the impressive Edo-Tokyo Museum 9 [map] (Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan; 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-ku; www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp; Tue–Sun 9.30am–5.30pm; charge), based in a wedge-shaped monolith balanced on four massive pillars. Highlights of the museum, which traces the history of the city from its founding through to the post-war reconstruction years, are replicas of the Nihonbashi, the wooden bridge which stood at the centre of Edo, the residence of a daimyo (feudal lord) and a kabuki stage. The museum also has well-curated revolving exhibitions of artifacts that can range from giant Edo Era scrolls to a look inside the castles of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Yokoami Park
One block north of the museum is small Yokoami Park ) [map] (Yokoami-koen), in which the austere temple-like complex of Tokyo Ireido is dedicated to the 100,000 victims of the Great Kanto Earthquake which struck just before noon on 1 September 1923 and destroyed over 70 percent of Tokyo. A small museum (Tue–Sun 9am–5pm; charge) displays remains from the fateful day.
Wrestlers at Kokugikan
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Kyu-Yasuda Garden
Leave the park by the west gate behind Tokyo Ireido and cross diagonally to reach the small but distinguished Kyu-Yasuda Garden ! [map] (Kyu-Yasuda Teien; daily 9am–4.30pm; free). Preserving the spirit of an old Edo-period stroll garden, the grounds were acquired in the 1850s by wealthy industrialist and banker Yasuda Zenjiro, grandfather of the avant-garde artist and musician Yoko Ono.
National Sumo Stadium
Immediately south of the garden is the National Sumo Stadium @ [map] (Kokugikan; www.sumo.or.jp/en). Two-week stints of this highly ritualised, visually spectacular sport are held here in January, May and September. There is a small Sumo Museum (Sumo Hakubutsukan; Mon–Fri 10am–4.30pm; free) on the same premises.
One of the ways in which sumo wrestlers acquire such giant girths is by consuming bowls of a nutritious, but body-enriching, stew called chanko-nabe. If you would like to sample the dish yourself, several restaurants in the area specialise in it. One of the best is Chanko Kawasaki, see 2, housed in an atmospheric 1937 building; another is Tomoegata, see 3.
Food and drink
1 Kintame
1-14-3 Tomioka, Koto-ku; tel: 3641 4561; www.kintame.co.jp; Tue–Sun 10am–6pm; station: Monzen-Nakacho; ¥¥
Opposite the Fukagawa Fudo-do temple, this appealing place serves tasty Kyoto-style fish marinated in sake lees (deposits produced during fermentation), and a variety of pickles.
2 Chanko Kawasaki
2-13-1 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku; tel: 3631 2529; Mon–Sat 5–9pm; station: Ryogoku; ¥¥
Like many others in the area, this restaurant specialises in the preferred dish of sumo wrestlers, chanko-nabe stews, but it has the edge because of its location in a charming wooden house and its friendly owners. A set meal starts at ¥3,050, and bookings are advised.
3 Tomoegata
2-17-6 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku; tel: 3632 5600; www.tomoegata.com; daily 11.30am–2pm and 5–11pm; station: Ryogoku; ¥¥
Fluttering colourful banners mark this restaurant, with branches either side of the road, where you can sample chanko-nabe. If you are not so hungry, then the ¥840 sebisu-chanko (only served for lunch Monday to Friday) will suffice.