Sashigaya Koishikawa

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Sashigaya 指ヶ谷 / さしがや in Koishikawa
- 指ヶ谷町 Sashigaya-choo

Koishikawa 小石川, District within Bunkyo, Tokyo. - see below
Otsuka 大塚, District within Bunkyo, Tokyo. - see below
Sekiguchi 関口, District within Bunkyo, Tokyo. - see below

- quote -
Scenography and the city form
Tokyo is based upon an orｔography of seven hills and five corresponding valleys, the intersection of which necessitated specific responses in spatial planning and gave the city its physical form.
The seven hills include the highlands of Ueno, Hongo, Koishikawa-Mejiro, Ushigome, Yotsuya-Kojimachi, Akasaka-Azabu, and Shiba-Shirogane.
The valleys of Sendai-Shinobazu, Sashigaya, Hirakawa, Tameike, and Furukawa weave in-between the highlands, giving the city a bi-fold distinction.
- source : architokyo.wordpress.com/empty-centre-symbolism... -

The old name of Sashigaya was lost in 1966 and is now incorporated as
白山 Hakusan with 5 sub-districts. The Hakusan Shrine is in the 5th district.



Once the 3rd Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu was hunting with hawks in the hills of this area, a wilderness of sorts. When the hawk was set free, it flew away in great speed. Iemitsu tried hard to follow it and saw it disappear in a valley. He stretched out (sashi) his finger and called "this valley, this valley" (ya).
Hence the name of the valley was born "finger-pointing valley".
And soon after, around 1634, farmers settled in the valley. In 1747 the growing village was put under the jurisdiction of the Machi Bugyo Magistrate.




. Enjoji 圓乗寺 / 円乗寺 Enjo-Ji - Bunkyo Hakusan .

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「段彩陰影図　/　小石川２」　　
中央で二つの谷筋が合流している付近が指谷で、岬状に突き出す台地の先に白山神社が祀られています。なお、オレンジ線は区境ですが、大半が文京区です。

白山下交差点　　
正面が小石川台に上る蓮華寺坂、右手手前が白山坂、左手手前が浄心寺坂でいずれも本郷台に上ります。江戸時代には五差路でしたが、明治末に旧白山通りが開通し、六差路になりました。 　

浄心寺坂　　→　「
江戸名所図会　/　丸山浄心寺」にも描かれており、坂の中腹にある浄心寺からのネーミングです。坂下の左手には千川屋敷がありました。右手には八百屋お七の墓所のある円城寺が現存しています。
- reference source : blog.goo.ne.jp/kawawalk... -


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a square manhole
- detailed walk and photos from modern Sashigaya and Hakusan-doori 白山通り
- reference source : ankyoneko.exblog.jp... -

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Koishikawa 小石川 Koishikawa district
Bunkyo ward　文京区

In the Muromachi period, this district was known as 小石河 Koishkawa. There were many small rivers (kawa) with small stones (koishi). There was later even a river named Koishikawa.　
It used to be a ward of its own, 小石川区 Koishikawa ku, until 1947.



The sub-districts are
大塚一丁目 - 六丁目 Otsuka - see below
音羽一丁目・二丁目 Otowa
春日一丁目・二丁目 Kasuga
小石川一丁目 - 五丁目 Koishikawa
. 後楽一丁目・二丁目 Kōraku, Koraku .
. 小日向一丁目 - 四丁目 Kohinata .
. 水道一丁目・二丁目 Suido, Suidō .
関口一丁目 - 三丁目 Sekiguchi - see below
. 千石一丁目 - 四丁目 Sengoku .
白山一丁目 - 五丁目 Hakusan - see below
目白台一丁目 - 三丁目 Mejirodai - see below


Katsushika Hokusai 礫川雪ノ旦/小石川雪ノ旦
snow at the tea house in Koishikawa

Koishikawa (小石川) is a locality within Bunkyo, Tokyo.
It is located nearby with the same name are two well regarded gardens: the Koishikawa Botanical Garden (related to Tokyo University) in Hakusan, and the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden in Korakuen.
Koishikawa Garden
The construction was started in 1629 by Tokugawa Yorifusa, the daimyo (feudal lord) of Mito domain, and was completed by his successor, Tokugawa Mitsukuni.
Mitsukuni named this garden "Kōraku-en"
(Kōraku means "enjoying afterwards") after a Chinese teaching of "a governor should worry before people and enjoy after people". The garden shows strong Chinese character in its design, as it was influenced by the West Lake of Hangzhou.
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The Koishikawa Botanical Gardens (小石川植物園 Koishikawa Shokubutsuen, 40 acres, 16 hectares)
are botanical gardens with arboretum operated by the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science.
They are located at 3-7-1 Hakusan, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, and open daily except Mondays; an admission fee is charged.
The gardens date to 1684, when the 5th Tokugawa shōgun, Tsunayoshi, established the Koishikawa Medicinal Herb Garden. In 1877, after the Meiji Restoration, they became a part of the university and the birthplace of Japanese botanical research. Today research activities are focused on the evolution, phylogenetic systematics, and physiology of higher plants.
... The 小石川養生所　Koishikawa Yojosho, an early Japanese hospital, was established within the herb gardens by the eighth shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1722.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Koishikawa Denzu-In, Dentsu-in, Dentsuin 小石川伝通院 Temple .

. Koishikawa 小石川養生所 Koishikawa Yojosho Hospital .

. Matsuo Basho in Koishikawa 松尾芭蕉 小石川 .


The Bashoan Retreat on Tsubakiyama near the Aqueduct in the Sekiguchi
Basho's hut, Tsubaki Hill at Sekiguchi aqueduct
Bassein on Mount Tsubakiyama near the aqueduct in the Sekiguchi
関口上水端芭蕉庵椿山
Utagawa Hiroshige

Sekiguchi was the place where a water gate called Oarai 大洗堰 "Ōarai-no-seki"
at the Kanda aqueduct was and supplied precious water to the people of Edo.
In 1677 when 藤堂家 the Todō Family conducted repair work of Ōarai-no-seki,
it is believed that Matsuo Bashō assisted in the work and later lived in
Ryūin-an which is annex to Suijin Shrine and Bashō-an was built after his death.
The place around here is famous also for camellias.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

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- - - - - Hakusan 白山 Hakusan district
A part of Old Edo with the atmosphere of Shitamachi. The name "White Mountain", refers to the Shrine located in this district.


小石川白山権現社 Koishikawa Hakusan Gongen Sha
東京都文京区白山五丁目31番26号 / 5 Chome-31-26 Hakusan, Bunkyō-ku, Tōkyō
『江戸名所図会』Edo Meisho Zue

This shrine was under the patronage of the Edo Bakufu government. The second Shogun Hidetada moved the Shrine from 本郷一丁目 Hongo first district to its present location near the 御薬園 Go-Yakuen Garden for medicinal herbs, part of the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens.

Hakusan Jinja 白山神社 Hakusan Gongen 白山権現社

. 東京十社 Tokyo Jissha - ten important shrines of Tokyo .
. Hakusan shrines 白山神社 in Japan - Introduction .

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- Hiroshige　広重

白山傾城か窪 Hakusan Keijogakubo
Hakusan-jinya Shrine, which is also the origin of the area name, was an enshrinement of Kaga Hakusan's Hakusan-jinja Shrine and the village shrine for Koishikawa. The shrine flourished as the major shrine for worship of Hakusan in Edo. T
he Hakusan-jinja Shrine was relocated to its present position when 5代将軍綱吉 the 5th Shogun Tsunayoshi was the head of the Tatebayashi Clan, and the Koishikawa Goten (a stately mansion at Koishikawa, also known as Hakusan Goten) was constructed at the site of the ruins. The mansion drew water from the Sen-kawa River and was surrounded by a moat and was said to have been a very picturesque site.
After the death of Tsunayoshi, the residence was abandoned, and in 貞享年間 the Jokyo Era (1684-88), the 小石川薬園 Koishikawa Yakuen (a garden for medicinal herbs) was established on the site. At present the site is The University of Tokyo affiliated 小石川植物園 Koishikawa Botanical Gardens.
The Nakasendo Highway branch off of the Nikko Highway at 駒込追分 Komagome-Oiwake passed through Hakusan, and the area was commonly called 鶏声ヶ窪（傾城ヶ窪） Kaiseigakubo. It is said this is because the sound of a bird crying was heard every morning in 下総古河藩下屋敷 the Shimosa Koga Clan villa, and when the location the bird cry was heard from was dug up, 金の鶏 a golden rooster was found.
- source : ndl.go.jp/landmarks... -

. kinkei 金鶏と伝説 Legends about the golden rooster .

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the tomb of 八百屋お七 Yaoya Oshichi, O-Shichi



. Yaoya no O-Shichi Greengrocer's Daughter Oshichi .
and the Big Fire in Tenna' or 'Oshichi-fire'.

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- quote -
Yukio Ozaki 尾崎行雄 Ozaki Yukio
(December 24, 1859 – October 6, 1954) was a liberal Japanese politician, born in modern-day Sagamihara, Kanagawa. Ozaki served in the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet for 63 years (1890–1953). He is still revered in Japan as the "God of constitutional politics" and the "father of the Japanese Constitution."
..... Yukio and his brother Yukitaka went to the United States in 1888 but Ozaki could not endure the temperature extremes and could not sleep in the heat of New York City and Washington, D.C. He sailed back to Japan via England and was then elected to his first term in the Japanese Imperial Diet. .....
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

When he returned to Japan, he took up residence in Sashigaya in Tokyo's Koishikawa district

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Mejirodai 目白台 Mejirodai district
Bunkyo, Mejirodai 一丁目 - 三丁目 first to third sub-district



The name refers to the Mejiro Fudo with white eyes. It used to be in the temple 長谷寺 Hasedera, which burned down. The White-eyed Fudo was then relocated.
A white horse was born in the Shoguns stable at that time as an auspicious sign.

The area is an old residential neighborhood and a school zone.

. Mejiro Fudo 目白不動 Fudo with white eyes .
目白不動「金乗院」　豊島区高田2-12-39

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Ootsuka 大塚 Otsuka "big mound"
It used to be a farming region in Koishikawa village.
The name refers to an area of flat fields, in the middle of them was a large mound, a 古墳 Kofun.
Takizawa Bakin 滝沢馬琴 (1767 - 1848) in his book about the 南総里見八犬伝 Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, the The Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes of the Satomi Clan of Nanso, mentions Otsuka no sato 大塚の里

The first houses of Edo city dwellers were built around 1630. In 1717 it came under the jurisdiction of the 町奉行 Machibugyo.



. Otowa Gokokuji 音羽護国寺 Otowa Gokoku-Ji
文京区大塚5-40-1 / Bunkyo ward, Otsuka 5-40-1

. kofun 古墳 burial mounds in Tokyo .

. Temple 普門山 Fumonzan 天寿院 Tenju-In 大慈寺 Daiji-Ji .

There is also a district called
Minami Otsuka 南大塚 "South Otsuka".
It is North of Otsuka in 豊島区 Toshima ward.

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Sekiguchi 関口 Sekiguchi district
Bunkyo, 関口一丁目 - 三丁目, first to third sub-district



The name dates back to the
seki 堰 weir
of the place where the 神田上水 Kanda Josui canal crossed the river 江戸川 Edogawa (神田川 Kandagawa.
During the Kamakura, the 宿坂の関 Shukuzaka no Seki barriere gate may also have contributed to the name.
The weir was lost in 1933.

. the many waterways of Edo .
. Tamagawa Josui - Edo's Water Supply .

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Tsubakiyama Hachimangu 椿山八幡宮

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The famous hotel 椿山荘 Chinzanso
2 Chome-10-８ Sekiguchi, Bunkyō,



- quote -
Welcome to Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, a luxury garden oasis in the heart of Tokyo.
Our gardens were formally established in 1861, in what we called the Meiji era, but it is said this area was already appreciated as beautiful camellia hills with a long history dating back some 700 years. You can relax in your room overlooking our vast Japanese garden.
- source : hotel-chinzanso-tokyo... -

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The novelist Satō Haruo 佐藤春夫 Sato Haruo (1892 - 1964) had his residence in the third sub-district.
Haruo-ki 春夫忌 Haruo Memorial Day - May 6

- quote -
a Japanese novelist and poet active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan.
His works are known for their explorations of melancholy. He won the 4th Yomiuri Prize.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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At 江戸の関口 a place named Sekiguchi in Koishikawa, Suijin 水神の社 the Deity of Water was venerated in a shrine.
In the river in front of it, there grew a lot of makomo まこも wild rice.
Once the arrow maker 宮こ弥兵衛 Miyako Yahei passed there and sawa a bright light. It was a huge toad, its back almost as wide as a tatami mat.
He became quite afraid and run home. He became ill and had to stay in bed for seven days.

. makomo 真菰 / まこも wild rice. .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

. Denzuuin 伝通院 Denzu-In, Denzuin, Dentsu-In .
文京区小石川3-14-6 / 3 Chome-14-6 Koishikawa, Bunkyō
- with many legends !

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hebi 蛇 serpent
In the year 1826, a 14-year ofld child named 高橋千吉 Takahashi Senkichi lived at the 小石川三百坂 Koishikawa Sanbyakusaka slope.
He observed 15 snakes who had cuddled up together, with an old shining coin in their middle. Senkichi stretched his arm and got the coin. Other people told him to throw it away, but Senkichi insisted he had done no harm to anybody. So the others told him that his grandmother had once taken a jewel out of a group of serpents and hoped to become rich for the rest of her life.

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小石川諏訪町 Koishikawa Suwa town
The home of a rich merchant caught fire many times, but nobody was found who had done this.
A mountain priest performed purifying rituals and suddenly a girl began to cry "I am so afraid, so afraid!" and suddenly disappeared with her mother.
Next morning they found the dead bodies of the two in the nearby moat.
They must have been the arsonists.

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Sookeiji 宗慶寺 Temple Sokei-Ji

ryuujo 竜女 Ryujo, dragon woman
Sookeiji 宗慶寺 Temple Sokei-Ji
Bunkyō-ku, Koishikawa, 4 Chome−15−17



Shookei 聖冏 Yuurenja Ryooyo 酉蓮社了誉 Shokei Yurenja Ryoyo (1341 - 1420)
a traveling monk of the Pure Land Sect.

When Saint Ryoyo stayed at the temple Sokei-Ji, there appeared a "dragon woman".
Ryoyo received the blessings and 菩薩戒 a Bosatsu ordination from her.
She had come from the 極楽井 Gokuraku well.








江戸名所図会 Edo Meisho Zue

- quote -
Gokurakusui 極楽水 “Paradise Water" is a name of a well in the Koishikawa district of the Bunkyō Ward.
It was part of Sōkeiji Temple and was known to have delicious water. The well has dried up and is perservd only as a landmark.
- Tokyo: Memory, Imagination, and the City
- source : Barbara E. Thornbury, ‎Evelyn Schulz -

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shari 舎利 relics of Buddha
Once their lived a 同心 police officer who could shoot with bow and arrow. His name was 長蔵 Chozo. His mother had once received special manju 饅頭 buns from her mistress and kept them as a memento. A few days later they had changed into some red and white pebbles (小石 koishi). Inside was something red - this must have been the relics of Buddha.

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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. Bunkyō 文京区 Bunkyo ward, "Literature Capital" .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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