Kiyosumi-Shirakawa: Tokyo's Quiet Neighborhood of Coffee, Art, and Edo History

Years ago, on one of my first trips to Japan, my Japanese ex took me to a little neighborhood in Tokyo. I’d admittedly never been much outside of downtown Tokyo. (I was staying in Roppongi, for god sakes.)

I’ve since learned how diverse the city is, and come to love many of its smaller neighborhoods. But to me back then, “Tokyo” meant the tangle at Shibuya Scramble and the neon of Kabukicho. It was hustle and bustle and noise.

Kiyosumi-Shirakawa was different. It represented the quieter side of this sprawling metropolis of 14 million. Even better, I could spend an afternoon stepped in culture and good coffee without fighting crowds or standing in line for hours.

I went back recently, worried that it’d be overwhelmed by tourists. I was pleasantly surprised. Bottom line: if you love Japanese history, gorgeous public parks, third wave coffee, and/or sumo, Kiyosumi-Shirakawa is a fun and educational spot on your trip to Tokyo.

Historic Fukagawa: Tokyo’s unlicensed geisha quarter

“Winter in Fukagawa,” an 18th-century woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro.

Of course, since this is UJ, we can’t just say “go somewhere.” We need to give you a little history lesson to boot. (We know you love it.)

I mean, let’s be honest: the neighborhood’s name begs for an explanation. How did this staggering eight-syllable appellation come into being?

In fact, the name “Kiyosumi-Shirakawa” is only two decades old. Originally, this area near the Sumida River was known as Fukagawa. The name comes from Fukagawa Hachirōzaemon (深川八郎右衛門), who led a group of settlers from Osaka to reclaim the marshland.

Legend has it that the area got his name because shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was consulting with Fukagawa on marshland reclamation projects in the area, asked him what the area was called. When Fukagawa said it didn’t have a name, the uniter of Japan named it after the man himself.

The area soon became Edo’s timber capital. It stayed that way into the postwar era, when land subsidence forced most timber yards to move to Shin-Kiba. Fukagawa also served a bustling unlicensed geisha quarter. The women who worked there were known as the Tatsumi geisha (辰巳芸者), and were known for their “shitamachi” (downtown) style of understated chic: plain grey kimonos, minimal makeup, and masculine names and speech patterns.

Fukagawa was also home to an infamous tragedy at the Eitai bridge in 1807. During a festival for the Tomioka Hachiman shrine, the wooden structure gave way under the huge crowd. 1,400 people were killed, injured, or declared missing. The bridge has since been rebuilt multiple times, with the current steel arch, modeled on Germany’s Ludendorff Bridge, built in 1926 after the 1923 Kanto earthquake destroyed it.

The Edo Fukagawa Museum documents the area’s history as a warehousing district and shipping canal with a scene that shifts between day and night, complete with a thunderstorm. (Picture: Jay Allen / Unseen Japan)

The Kiyosumi name dates back to 1695, when fishermen settled the village after reclaiming the tidal flats. “Shirakawa” comes from Matsudaira Sadanobu (松平定信), the lord of the Shirakawa domain. He’s buried just three minutes from contemporary Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station; his grave is a National Historic Site.

Where to go in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa

This intriguing history gives modern-day Kiyosumi-Shirakawa its distinct layout. Originally a canal-linked logistics and warehousing district, many of its low-rise warehouse and shopping district buildings were rebuilt along the same patterns after the Kanto earthquake and World War II. Its high density of convertible, small footprint industrial space makes it an ideal haven for the coffee shops, indie bookstores, and art galleries that flock to it today.

The two towns of Kiyosumi and Shirakawa comprise around 15,000 people today. The main train stop, Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station, is served by two subway lines: the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon and the infamously deep Toei Ōedo. If you’re in Shibuya, you can hop on the Hanzōmon directly and be there in 25 minutes. Here’s what to check out once you arrive.

Kiyosumi Garden

Picture: Jay Allen / Unseen Japan

Personally, I consider a trip out to Kiyosumi-Shirakawa to be worth it even if you just do two things: drink good coffee and visit Kiyosumi Garden.

The grounds upon which the park now sits were rumored to be the villa of the Edo-era merchant Kinokuniya Bunzaemon. In 1878, Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, bought the estate and made it a corporate retreat named Fukagawa Shinbokuen. The family donated it to Tokyo after the Kanto earthquake, and the city turned it into the beautiful garden it is today.