Part of the Takaido Park (tentative name) is scheduled to open in late February 2020.
The plan had not changed since September 2017, so the maintenance work seems to be on track.
Walking down the Karasuyama River (a tributary of the Meguro River)
For reasons of convenience, I haven’t taken a walk for about a month.
Today, I would like to walk all the way along the Karasuyama River, a tributary of the Meguro River.
Chitose-karasuyama station
The station I got off at was Chitose Karasuyama Station.
Culvert of the Karasuyama River (where I am standing now)
I walked west out of the station to the north, and when the platform ended, I met the culvert of the Karasuyama River. Above the culvert was a bicycle parking lot.
Upstream of the Karasuyama River culvert
This is what it looks like when you look upstream. It looks like a dead end, but it continues.
There are many flowers blooming along this greenway, and I would like to introduce some of them today.
geranium (usu. a cultivated pelargonium)
First, the geraniums. The flowers are beautiful, but I don’t like the smell when I touch the leaves. Can you stand it?
Agapanthus
Agapanthus was blooming all over the place. Its Japanese name is Murasaki kunshiran.
hagi (bush clover)
It’s only June, but the hagi (bush clover) are starting to bloom. They are the seven flowers of autumn, aren’t they? Isn’t it too early?
Salvia galanitica
Salvia galanitica was also blooming here and there. I think there used to be only one kind of salvia, red. I used to suck the nectar from them on my way home from elementary school. I wonder if many different kinds have been imported since then. I wonder if this flower can also suck nectar.
Cross National Highway 20 with a pedestrian bridge
Cross Route 20 on a pedestrian bridge.
It used to be called Mizunashi River
The greenway at the end of the crossing was also well maintained. To the right is a field.
There was a sign in front of the field that said it used to be called Mizunashi River and was a tributary of the Karasuyama River. It used to be called Mizunashi River and was a tributary of Karasuyama River. It used to join the mainstream of Karasuyama River near the Chitose Cleaning Plant just east of Roka Koshunen. What a surprise. So this is not the main stream.
But there was more to the story. The original mainstream became an unnamed river when the River Law was revised in 1964, and this Mizunashi River became the Karasuyama River. I knew this was the Karasuyama River.
Margaret cosmos
The Margaret cosmos was attracting the pale grass blue, which was sucking nectar from it.
Margaret cosmos looks very similar to Euryops daisy. I thought I distinguished them by their leaves, but am I right?
I can distinguish the pale grass blue by its spots, but there are many butterflies that look alike.
Hemerocallis
I think this beautiful lily is a Hemerocallis. The stamen looks gentler than most lilies. It’s a nice looking flower, but I only saw it here.
Ukitsuriboku (Tyrolean lamp)
This is a Ukitsuriboku. Also known as Tyrolean lamp. It is a flower native to Brazil with a unique color scheme and shape.
For some reason, I had a hard time getting it in focus. Perhaps it was because it was an unfamiliar object to the camera.
electricity pylon
In the uppermost part of the Karasuyama River, there are many electricity pylons.
The name of the area is Kyuden, which means “supply rice field,” and I guess there used to be many rice fields here. However, I think it’s time to change the kanji and change the name to Kyuden (electricity supply).
The point considered to be the starting point of the Karasuyama River
According to the topographic map, the Karasuyama River stops at this point in front of the Chuo Expressway. Therefore, I have finished walking along the Karasuyama River here.
Heading to Takaido Park
The point where I finished walking along the Karasuyama River was close to the planned site of Takaido Park, so I decided to go check on the progress!
Pentas
The pentas are blooming beautifully.
A wooded area on the site of the Iwasaki student dormitory
Suddenly, a large wooded area appeared. I was surprised because Setagaya Ward has an image of a high-class residential area. This is the site of the Iwasaki Student Dormitory, and the trees were planted at the request of Iwasaki Yohachiro, the founder of Iwasaki Sangyo Co.
Iwatsu Electric Co., Ltd.
I thought there was a big company, but it was Iwasaki Communication Equipment Co.
Iwasaki Communication Equipment is a member of the Iwasaki family of companies, which used to supply black telephones to the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation. They are famous for their oscilloscopes, which are machines that look at electrical waveforms. I used it for experiments when I was in college. The oscilloscope had a lot of dials and switches on it, and I didn’t know how to operate it. However, when I turned the dials at random, the waveforms would mysteriously appear, so I just got on with it.
Tamagawa Aqueduct
Tamagawa josui was flowing.
Tamagawa josui is supposed to flow along the ridge line, but I don’t remember climbing uphill from Karasuyama river.
In fact, the elevation of the Karasuyama River is about 49 meters and that of the Tamagawa Josui is about 50 meters. It’s only about a meter difference. I think the wisdom of the people of the past who were able to identify such a subtle difference in elevation and pass the Tamagawa josui through in such a short period of time is truly remarkable.
Tamagawa Aqueduct water flow
The current flow of Tamagawa josui is a little trickle, but it must have been full of water in the past.
How’s the construction going on the Takaido Park?
The western end of the planned Takaido Park site
I came to a familiar place. It is the west end of the planned Takaido Park.
It looks almost the same as it did two years ago. In my imagination, I thought it would be much more developed.
The road that separates the north and south areas of Takaido Park
Heading east along the road, there is little sign of progress in maintenance. It even seems as if they have given up on maintaining the park.
Vibrometer and sound level meter
The vibrometer and sound level meter were newly installed.
South district of Takaido Park
As I walked further, the south side opened up. This area is known as the South District.
Two years ago, the schedule was supposed to be decided after a survey of buried cultural properties, but with no cultural properties, I guess they were able to start the work earlier. But I can’t find any trees or benches, and it looks like they are just opening up the plaza.
Explanation signboard
Looking to the north again, I found an explanatory sign.
It says that the parkland improvement work for a part of Takaido Park (tentative name) (shown on the map, east side of the north area) is scheduled to be completed in late February 2020. This is on-schedule, since the project was originally planned for FY 2018 – FY 2019. Presumably, the sign was put up before March of this year, so it couldn’t say “February 2020”.
Another thing that caught my attention on the sign was the words “two rainwater harvesting tanks.
I wonder if this is a mechanism to prevent the water level of Kanda River, which flows just to the north, from rising too high when it rains. If you don’t bury the tanks from the beginning, it will be difficult to construct them later.
Incidentally, the entrance from the south side is around the place where this sign was set up.
Tentative parkway that will become a multipurpose plaza
This is a view of the construction from the temporary parkway.
When the park opens, the parkway will be removed to make way for a multipurpose plaza with grass.
Entrance to “Playground 110”
I was curious about the plaza in the south area, so I looked for the entrance. It was in the northeast corner of the square.
The name of the plaza is “Playground 110”. It will be temporarily open from August 8, 2015 until a part of the park opens. So, it seems to have already been opened the last time I passed by (September 8, 2017). I didn’t notice it at the time.
This means that the survey of buried cultural properties in this area, which was scheduled for the year 2017, is probably not yet done. If that is the case, it will be some time before this area is cleared to become Takaido Park.
A scene from “Playground 110”
This is what the playground 110 looks like. There was one tree growing.
It started to rain, so I ran back to Fujimigaoka station.
Walking data
Course: Keio Keio Line Chitose Karasuyama Station -> Karasuyama River -> Takaido Park construction site -> Keio Inokashira Line Fujimigaoka Station
Distance: 6.6km
Time: 1h46m
