I decided to title this article “I found a clear place in Kanda River!” That’s how clean the flow was in some places. However, I didn’t finish walking all along the Kanda River, and I thought there might be more beautiful places, so I titled this article “Higo Hosokawa Garden,” which I found equally interesting.
Iidabashi
Iidabashi Station East Exit
I came to Iidabashi station for the third week in a row. But this time, it’s not the goal, but the start.
Complex intersection in front of Iidabashi Station
The Iidabashi intersection is as big and complicated as ever. There seem to be several bridges, and I wonder which one is the real Iidabashi.
Today, I want to head upstream to the Kanda River, so I walk along Mejiro-dori on the left side of the photo.
The Omagari intersection, where the Kanda River makes a big turn.
I’m planning to walk to Takadanobaba today, but Mejiro Dori is extending north from Iidabashi. At “Omagari”, my path turned to the west-northwest, when I started to worry that I would end up in Otsuka if I kept going.
On the left bank of the Kanda River is the Toppan Printing Museum, which I visited about 10 years ago. It was a fun place to visit, with actual printing machines on display, but I’m sure the exhibits have changed a lot, so I’d like to go back soon.
Edo River
About 450 meters from Omagari, there is the West Edogawa Bridge, and at the base of the south side of the bridge, I found the birthplace of domestic airplanes. It’s not a very large place, so it’s surprising. However, I read that the actual flight tests were conducted at “Toyamagahara”. I wonder if this is around the current Shinjuku Sports Center. There is a possibility that the aircraft was transported by Kanda River.
Edogawabashi intersection
Edogawa Bridge intersection. The 2.1km section around here used to be called the Edogawa River!
Mejiro-dori Avenue, which I walked along from the right hand side, turns right and heads north beyond the red light. There are many interesting places ahead of us, so I’ll try to visit them sometime. Today, I will continue along Shin-Mejiro-dori, which stretches along the Kanda River to the left.
The crystal clear Kanda River
The Ikkyu Bridge taken from upstream
The Kanda River starts flowing under the expressway around the Ikkyu Bridge, and continues on and on until it reaches the mouth of the Nihonbashi River.
The name “Ikkyu-bashi” does not mean that Ikkyu-san answered the question, “This bridge should not be crossed” with a ton of wisdom, but it seems that the name comes from a soba noodle shop.
Milepost
There was a milepost. It said it was 6.5 km to Sumidagawa and 18.1 km to Minamoto.
Why didn’t they write “Inokashiraike” for “Sumida-gawa”? Is it because it’s too long for seven characters? No. 13 means that if you pay attention, you can find it every 1.5 km or so.
The crystal clear Kanda River
This is the area where the river is very clear. You can see the bottom of the water. It’s shallow, though. There are some trees that look like cherry blossoms, so I think the scenery is quite beautiful in spring.
I can see why Minami Kosetsu and Kaguyahime sang “Kanda River”. Until now, I had only been impressed by the muddy water near Ochanomizu Station, so I had no idea why the Kanda River was the subject of the song. Rivers, like people, should not be judged by only one aspect.
Higo Hosokawa Garden
In the Higo Hosokawa Garden
At Komatsukabashi Bridge, I crossed over to the left bank without a second thought, and a little further on, a gate appeared on the mud wall. It seemed to be free to enter, so I went in and found the “Higo Hosokawa Garden”! I wondered if this garden had been around for a long time.
When I looked it up on Wikipedia, I found that it was “renamed from Shin Edogawa Park in March of this year as part of renovations. No wonder, I thought, but actually I didn’t even know there was a New Edogawa Park.
The pond is located higher than the Kanda River, so the water for the pond must be supplied by a spring in the vicinity. It was early autumn, so the water was muddy with blue-green algae that had formed in the summer, but it might be clearer in the winter.
Takadanobaba
Distant view of Takadanobaba Station seen from Waseda Street
I decided to take a walk to Takadobashi Bridge today. At the intersection of Takadobashi Bridge, I entered Meiji-dori Street, and then at the intersection of Babaguchi Street, I entered Waseda-dori Street and went out to Takadanobaba Station.
When I got home and looked at the 1/25,000 scale map, I found that the Takado-bashi intersection was the confluence of the Myoshoji River, which had flowed under Shin-Mejiro-dori Avenue as a culvert. I’m not sure if I can see the confluence, but I’d like to continue walking from this intersection next time.
Walking data
Course: JR Chuo Line Iidabashi Station → Higo Hosokawa Garden → JR Yamanote Line Takadanobaba Station
Distance: 5.4km
Time: 55m
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