Tower blocks northwest of Ikebukuro Station, with temples and a forest left by a forestry scholar tucked in the gaps
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
What people call "Ikebukuro" is the bustling area extending out from the east and west exits of Ikebukuro Station; the official neighborhood name is Ikebukuro 1-chome through 4-chome, located to the northwest of the station. 3-chome has three temples including Shoun-ji and Toun-ji, plus Mitake Shrine, while 1-chome has the Toshima City-run park Ikebukuro no Mori. Ikebukuro no Mori sits in a corner of the Heiwa-dori shopping street, a patch of woods that suddenly appears among the buildings.
There are schools and houses near the shopping street. Almost all the trees in the park were left behind by the original owner, a forestry scholar. Next to the lawn ringed by big trees there's a pond fed by a well pump, where several kinds of dragonflies come to visit.
Among people living in these four chome, in 2020 more than seven out of ten households were single-person households, and over 40% of residents were aged 20 to 39 — both figures higher than the Toshima City average. Two-thirds of homes are rented.
Children from nearby nursery schools often take walks to Ikebukuro no Mori. The Heiwa-dori shopping street is closed to vehicles from 7 to 9am and 4 to 7pm during school commute hours. The designated elementary school for 1-chome through 4-chome is Ikebukuro Elementary School in 4-chome.
For daily shopping, this neighborhood ranks 24th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, and for healthcare it ranks 19th — the top two categories for this neighborhood. Just west of the neighborhood is Kanamecho Station (outside the neighborhood), where you can ride the Yurakucho Line and the Fukutoshin Line.
In 2-chome, there are more people working here during the day than living here: in 2021 about 14,900 people worked here, while in 2020 only a bit over 6,500 people lived here. 1-chome and 2-chome are also designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as areas where touting is banned.
There aren't many families with children — those under 15 make up only about 5%, compared to nearly 9% for Toshima City as a whole. Based on our street photos, cleanliness ranks 383rd, the weakest category for this neighborhood; greenery ranks 370th, also near the bottom.
In the Edo period, this area was almost entirely farmland growing vegetables, and Mitake Shrine is said to have been founded in the late 16th century, during the Tensho era. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, many people from the heavily damaged shitamachi areas moved here, and this area gradually became a residential district.
Ikebukuro no Mori was originally the residence of forestry policy scholar Shimada Kinzo; Toshima City purchased it and opened the park in 1997. The large tulip tree at the center of the park was imported from overseas by the scholar for research, before this species had taken root in Japan.
Compared with the 395 Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Hospitals with inpatient beds (2020 data), public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area, high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores. Many Tokyo junior high students attend private schools, so junior high catchments are only a guide.
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How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
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