Wednesday 26 June 2013

Cycling to "the island" of Kita Senju...



On Sunday we cycled through what is arguably the largest island of Tokyo Bay, through Kita-ku, Arakaka-Ku,  and Adachi ku to Kita Senju. The Arakawa River is on the North Side, the Sumida on the South.
For otaku detail of the rivers see
http://rurousha.blogspot.jp/2013/06/the-bridges-across-sumida-river-part-1.html and related posts.
The map above is in Japanese but we went from the western edge to about the large road that runs east of and parallel to route 4 (the Nikko Kaido)





This is a very neglected part of Tokyo.  Much of it is quite new, reclaimed land that resulted from flood mitigation. Historically it's marginal; swamp land that was prone to flooding. The NE wards of Tokyo are still somewhat stigmatised by the history of Arakawa flooding.  At the narrowest point the distance between the rivers is almost spitting distance.  There are a lot of recycling facilities, and low cost housing.  The absence of  small local shrines in the area indicates relatively recent habitation in the area.
There seemed to be quite a lot of abandoned buildings, but some signs of gentrification, especially near the Teikyo Science University.



An abandoned danchi
An abandoned danchi
the north side of the Sumida
The same danchi - abunai - don't enter... though I can't imagine what the danger is.
I hate seeing good fruit wasted..... Biwa by the Sumida
Biwa
The entrance to the street below.
An old market street just off the Nikko Kaido
An abandoned house, despite the greenery
Very run down.
 
 
This was called "green street" the greenest thing was the paint on the building.
It's hard to overestimate greenery for making a place look pleasant.
This would be baking hot in summer.
 
Run down meets genetrification
A glimpse of gentrification - it looked very out of place in the area.
 
This looked abandoned, but the curtains suggest maybe not.
I thought this was abandoned when I took it, but it's not.
Recycling by the river
Recycling by the river

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4 comments:

allrite said...

Fascinating. There's something evocative about these abandoned and dying places.

Rurousha said...

Bridge otaku, heh, yes. I'll have to find a very interesting shrine very soon, otherwise I won't be able to call myself a shrine-hunter anymore.

I took a shortcut through that area during my Sumida exploration, and it's rather bleak yet endlessly fascinating (to me) (but I'm weird) (like you).

Cecilia said...

Thanks allrite.

There is certainly some kind of charm about the place. I am sure living there would strengthen my class consciousness...
It's so different from much of Tokyo.

Ru... the area around Ogu is old and has temples if not shrines, probably both. If I can twist your arm to cycle there are definitely adventures to be had there!

Cecilia said...

Thanks allrite.

There is certainly some kind of charm about the place. I am sure living there would strengthen my class consciousness...
It's so different from much of Tokyo.

Ru... the area around Ogu is old and has temples if not shrines, probably both. If I can twist your arm to cycle there are definitely adventures to be had there!