There are many spots in the 23 wards of Tokyo that even people who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area don’t know about.
With Ms. Sakai, the president of TOKYO SAN-ESU Ltd., a Tokyo-based company that has been planning and wholesaling bicycle-related products for many years, we will be exploring the 23 wards of Tokyo by bicycle under the theme of “Discovering Tokyo’s Attractions.”
First, let’s visit Nerima Ward in Tokyo. Here’s a look at a refreshing morning bicycle ride on a sunny autumn weekend when autumn leaves are starting to change color.
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Start at Toshimaen Station on Seibu Ikebukuro Line
The start of Nerima cycling tour is at Toshimaen station.
I learned once again that “Toshimaen”(Toshima amusement park) is not in Toshima ward, but in Nerima ward.
Toshimaen, located right in front of Toshimaen station, had been in business for 94 years since 1926 and closed on August 31, 2021. In 2023, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter, an indoor Harry Potter themed park, is scheduled to open here.
Kouyama Park
About 1km after passing through a small slope and running along the wall of the former “Toshimaen” site, you will find Kouyama park, a small park in a residential area.
Surrounded by quiet houses, it is a wonderful park with a very peaceful atmosphere.
This area is where Yutaka Ozaki (1965−1992), a famous Japanese singer songwriter, spent his childhood, and this park was the setting for the lyrics of his popular song “15-year-old Night”. He made plans to run away from home here.
Tokyo Metropolitan Shakujii Park
From Kouyama park, we head west for Shakujii park, about 4km.
Shakujii river runs through the residential area and the water is clean!
Along the river, there are Chinese quince trees and other scenery that you wouldn’t expect to see in the 23 wards of Tokyo.
Then we arrived at Shakujii park.
Shakujii park has Sanpoji-pond and Shakujii-pond, which along with Inokashira-pond and Zenpukuji-pond are known as the three major spring-fed ponds in Musashino.
The park is roughly divided into two areas: the Sanpoji-pond area, where the natural monument Sanpoji-pond Shoutaku plant community is located, and the Shakujii-pond area, commonly known as the boat pond.
While walking along the Shakujii-pond, you can see people enjoying radio-controlled model boats.
The reason why this area is called “Boat Pond” is because people started to enjoy radio-controlled model boats. The “Shakujii Radio Controlled Boat Club” was established in 1980.
The many homemade radio-controlled model boats, including one that emits smoke like a steamship and another that is a detailed reproduction of a patrol boat, show the passion of the creators.
There are also popular characters from Katsushika Ward.
If you cross the small bridge at Shakujii-pond, you can see the beautiful autumn scenery.
The next stop is Hikarigaoka park, about 4km northeast of here.
It’s easy to ride on a road with bicycle lanes.
On the way, there are many fields. It is hard to believe that we are in the 23 wards of Tokyo.
Hikarigaoka Park
On the south side of Hikarigaoka park is “Fureai-no-michi” （Fureai Road）,a row of 40 ginkgo trees, all of which are over 100 years old.
Hikarigaoka park is connected to Hikarigaoka Complex, Hikarigaoka IMA, a commercial complex and a cleaning plant. The park is marked by the chimney of the cleaning plant, which can be seen from a distance.
The park has a vast 6-hectare lawn, a day camping area, a barbecue area, and various sports facilities.
It’s a safe place for a variety of creatures to live and there is also a “Bird Sanctuary” where you can observe wild birds.
Nerima ward is a comfortable place to live for both people and wild birds.
Shimuradenki Coffee Roaster
About 3km toward Toshimaen station, where we started, we stopped at Shimura Denki Coffee Roaster for sweets.
This place started as an electronics store in 1968, and the second generation teamed up with the coffee roasting and coffee wholesaling business established in 1975 (both different industries with a history of about 50 years each) to be reborn as “Shimura Denki Coffee Roaster” in 2019 with store renovation.
So, electrical goods are also sold in the coffee roasting house.
As a coffee roaster, the coffee-flavored soft-serve ice cream is excellent.
Soba Noodle Restaurant “176” (Ichi-nana-roku)
We rode from Shimuradenki Coffee Roaster to Nerima station and had a little late lunch at “176”.
This place is located at 1-7-6 Nerima, Nerima ward, Tokyo (zip code:176-0001), which explains the name.
In the relaxed atmosphere of an old house, we ordered a small tendon set.（Tendon is a bowl of rice topped with deep-fried prawns.) Even the small set is quite large.
With delicious soba noodles and tendon, we finished our half-day “Nerima Cycling” of about 16km.
Course introduction
Summary
This was my first time exploring Nerima ward by bicycle. The first thing I felt was that the sky is wide because there are not many tall buildings.
There is also a lot of peaceful nature and parks, and I felt the air of the city that made me think, “This must be a comfortable place to live,” which is a little different from the downtown atmosphere of Taito ward, where the headquarters of TOKYO SAN-ESU is located.
Shakujii park and Hikarigaoka park are spots I would like to visit again in a different season.
I hope everyone will try to rediscover the charm of their own hometown by taking a stroll by bicycle.
For me, there are many places in Tokyo’s 23 wards that I’ve heard of but don’t really know where they are actually located. Together with Ms. Sakai, the president of TOKYO SAN-ESU, I’ll be introducing the charms of the city with the title of “Discover Tokyo,” on an irregular pace and I’ll also do my best to introduce the fun of strolling by bicycle.
Cooperation: TOKYO SAN-ESU Ltd.
