Why Not Visit One Hundred Scenes of Shinagawa? – The Togoshi Area - Part 8 -

If you take a step or two away from the bustling Togoshi Ginza-dori Avenue shopping street, you will find yourself in a quiet residential area. In this residential area is a shrine and park that tells the people of today about the Edo Period. Why not stroll through the Togoshi area and feel the autumn breeze?

Togoshi Ginza Shopping Area

Two stops away from Gotanda Station on the Ikegami Line, is Togoshi Ginza Station. When you walk out of the station, you will see a shopping area.
Although there are over 300 places called “Such-and-such Ginza,” the first such area was Togoshi Ginza. The two are linked because paving stones from the streets of the original Ginza in Chuo City were reused in this area after the Great Kanto Earthquake. The area was named “Togoshi Ginza,” with the name “Ginza” added when the shopping area in Togoshi was established.
The Togoshi Ginza Shopping Area is over 1 km long, with over 400 shops in a row. The shopping area is a lively place and various events are held there. Among them, the Togoshi Ginza Festival is one of the biggest. With the making of “Ginjiro” as a community mascot and the transmission of local information via the “Togoshi Ginza-Net” Website (http://www.togoshiginza.net/ – in Japanese only), the shopping area is alive with activity.


Togoshi Hachiman Jinja Shrine: 2-6-23 Togoshi

When you pass through the torii shrine gateway and walk up the approach, you will be welcomed by large stone guardian dogs. Next to them, there is a monument with a poem that describes how the Togoshi area got its name. If you go further, there are small guardian dogs in front of the shrine pavilion. In 1746, the people of Togoshi Village pooled their money and dedicated it to the shrine, which is the oldest artifact in the city. There are also stones within the grounds called “Sashi-Ishi (Chikara-Ishi).” It is said that during the Edo Period, people played sumo and young people used to compete to see who was the strongest by shouldering these stones. Today, a children’s sumo event is held in May.
Togoshi Hachiman Jinja Shrine holds a festival every year and has a grand festival once every three years (the last event was held last year) when a grand mikoshi portable shrine is carried in a procession through the Togoshi Ginza Shopping Area and other areas in rhythm to the clapping of the Togoshi beat.


Togoshi Park: 2-1 Yutakacho

This park is one of the most outstanding in the city. It was created using remnants of the garden of the shimoyashiki (second house) of the Hosokawa clan, the feudal lord of the state of Higo (today’s Kumamoto Prefecture) during the Edo Period. With a lake in the center surrounded by valleys, a waterfall and a man-made mountain, the park is of the style called, “Chisen-kaiyushiki (pond and promenade),” redolent of the feudal lord’s garden also seen in the Yakui-Mon Gate (Main Gate) and Kabuki-Mon Gate (East Gate).
This is a beautiful park with trees that bloom in season – plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, rhododendrons and gingko trees. The park is enjoyable not only for adults, but for a variety of people of different ages, from children to the elderly.
Location: A five-minute walk from Togoshi Koen Station on the Tokyu Oimachi Line or a 10-minute walk from Togoshi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line.
*Restrooms available; no parking.