Beautiful scenery of canal and alleys in Tukishima
1. Today's Walking Course
I came to the lower reaches of Sumida river in Tokyo. Today, I will visit Tukishima and try to find Japanese traditional scenery.
2. Today's Photographies
Now I am in the riverside park. The island over there is Tukishima. I will cross the bridge to go there.
This bridge is so big!
After crossing the bridge, there is a good promenade along Sumida river.
The Japanese-style architecture seems lighthouse. The contrast with high-rising building is interesting!
The other side of this canal is Tukuda district. This area is the first reclaimed island in Tukishima. There are a lot of traditional scenery and culture there.
I really love this peaceful landscape with canal!
The scenery of traditional waterside with modern high-rising buildings for the background is very famous for Tukishima.
Here is Shumiyoshi Shrine to worship the sea god. This is because originally the local people made a living with fishery and prayed for safety on the sea.
In Tukuda district, there are a lot of alleys.
This is a well. I didn’t know that a well is still remaining in Tokyo!
Local people are growing flowers. They are so beautiful!
This shop is called Tenyasu and very famous for tsukudani; preservable food boiled down in soy sauce. Tukudani is a specialty in Tukishima. I cannot leave here without getting Tukudani!
This is Tukudani. The right one is small fish and the left one is clam. We usually eat it with rice. It’s so delicious!
3. History
When Ieyasu Tokugawa ruled Japan and started developing Tokyo as the capital of Japan, he brought fishermen in Osaka, west part of Japan to Tokyo and made a artificial island for them in the early 17th century. The island is the original of Tukishima.
As the following picture in the 19 century shows, the island was so small and there was no bridge at that time.
In the latter part of the 19th century, Japanese new government dredged Sumida river and expanded the island with dredged soils. As the result, the current Tukishima island was establshed.
Since Tukishima is an island and the traffic access was bad, the island has remained the old scenery compared to other parts of Tokyo. After Yurakucho Line was open in 1988, the traffic access was improved and many high-rising buildings have been constructed recently. Thus, the old and new scenery has coexisted in this area.
4. Information
・Closest station to Tukishima is Tukishima Station, Yurakucho Line and Oedo Line.
・Tenyasu, Tukudani shop is open from 9am to 6pm from Sunday to Saturday. Three kinds of assorted Tukudani pack is 1020yen.
