The Shakujii River has contributed to the unevenness of northern Tokyo. It is also famous for the change in flow from Shinobazu Pond to Sumida River at Oji.
I’ve been wanting to walk along the Shakujii River for a while now, and today was the first day.
Where should I start walking?
I don’t really care if I walk upstream or downstream, as long as I walk the whole way. However, on the first day, I wanted to start walking from either end, so I decided to walk from the mouth of the river.
The nearest station to the mouth of the river would be Kajiwara on the streetcar line.
However, if I set Oji Station as the end point of my walk, it would only be about 2km, so I felt like walking a little more.
When I was considering the Arakawa Yuenchimae station of the tram, I discovered that Arakawa Yuenchi is located along the Sumida River. I had thought that Arakawa Amusement Park was located along the Arakawa River. But since the Sumida River used to be the mainstream of the Arakawa River, I guess it’s a reasonable name.
It’s a long story, but in the end, I decided to walk from Ogi-Ohashi Station on the Nippori-Toneri Liner!
Found the mouth of the Shakujii River!
View from the top of the Nippori-Toneri Liner
When I boarded the train from Nippori, unfortunately I couldn’t find an empty seat. I went to the front of the train to look for an available seat, and to my surprise, the very front seat was available! I sat down without hesitation.
Ogi-Ohashi Station
It has been 10 years since the opening of the Sarajin Liner on March 30 this year. But it’s still beautiful, including the station building.
Kohoku Bridge
Crossing the Arakawa River on the Kohoku Bridge. The bridge is rusty and a bit pitiful. I hope they will repaint it for safety reasons. The bridge was built in 1966.
Sumida River as seen from Toshima Bridge
This is the Sumida River as seen from Toshima Bridge. There is a possibility that I can see the mouth of the Shakujii River, but I don’t know where it is.
I walked along the Sumida River as much as possible. But there is no path along the river, so I’m not sure when the Shakujii River will appear.
Branch to the park
At an unusual fork in the road, going left seemed to lead to a park, so I went that way to see what was going on.
The mouth of the Shakujii River
As it turned out, it was the right choice. I found the mouth of the Shakujii River just beyond the park!
I had a faint memory of seeing the Shakujii River at other points, so the amount of water was almost as expected. However, I had expected the flow to be more vigorous.
Perhaps because the entire basin of the Shakujii River is protected by concrete, there is very little sediment.
The upper reaches of the Shakujii River as seen from its mouth
Asukayama is supposed to be visible upstream. But I couldn’t see it because it was blocked by buildings.
Tidally sensitive river
According to Kita Ward, the Shakujii River from the confluence of the Sumida River to near Oji Station is a tidally sensitive river that is affected by the rising and falling tides.
Winding Shakujii River
Also, the area is quite winding.
According to Wikipedia, there are two theories: one is that it was created by natural river raiding, and the other is that it was created by human excavation. I vote for the natural river raiding theory, because the longer it is made, the more costly it becomes.
View upstream from Mizota Bridge
When I reached Mizota-bashi Bridge at the intersection of Meiji-dori Street, I could finally see the trees of Asukayama.
Water flow generator, etc.
When I reached the railroad tracks, various actors appeared.
The two waterways are diversions that run under Asukayama Park.
The boat-like device in the left diversion channel is suspended from the structure above and does not change its position. Behind the device, there is clearly a water flow compared to the diversion channel on the right. Upon further investigation, it seems that this device is a water flow generator for odor control.
In front of the right diversion channel, there is a flow channel that turns to the right.
Otonashi Water Park
Old channel
Here is a picture of the stream channel that turns to the right, the old channel of the Shakujii River.
Otonashi Water Park
Otonashi Park starts from the west side of the north exit of Oji Station. It is a beautiful park with a calm atmosphere. It has been selected as one of the top 100 urban parks in Japan.
In the past, there used to be a large waterfall at the location of this park.
By the way, I used to think that Oji’s paper industry used the water power of the Shakujii River.
But it seems that the truth is that the Oji branch of the Senkawa Josui water supply used the water power after it crossed the Shakujii River.
Walking data
Course: Tokyo Metropolitan Transportation Bureau Nippori-Toneri Liner Ogi-Ohashi Station -> Shakujiigawa -> JR Keihin-Tohoku Line Oji Station
Distance: 5.6km
Time: 1h27m
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