Neighbourhood · Nakano

Nakano-sakaue

中野坂上

Nakano-sakaue Station at the crossing of Ome-kaido and Yamate-dori, from the high-rises by the station to the quiet homes of Honcho and Chuo

Local guide

01First impressions

Nakano-sakaue Station sits beneath two major roads: the Marunouchi Line runs directly under Ome-kaido on the Honcho 2-chome side, and the Oedo Line runs under Yamate-dori on the Chuo 2-chome side. The high-rises by the station went up between 1996 and 1999, when the three blocks right at the intersection were redeveloped one after another. Behind the towers are quiet residential side streets. Walk south into Honcho 2-chome and the Asahi-no-oka Children's Hall is three minutes from the station, with Asahi-no-oka Park right next door.

02What works

In our street photos this neighbourhood is exceptionally tidy: it ranks 3rd for greenery and 4th for cleanliness among Tokyo's 155 neighbourhoods. It ranks 41st for everyday convenience, with drugstores, a 100-yen shop and a late-closing supermarket right by the station. Two subway lines meet at the same station, and on the Marunouchi Line the next stop towards Shinjuku is Nishi-shinjuku. Hosen-ji Temple in Chuo 2-chome is a five-minute walk from Exit 2.

03Heads-up

The ground isn't flat. Part of Honcho sits up on the plateau and the rest is a south-facing slope running down towards the Kanda River. The Nakano-sakaue intersection is 34 metres above sea level while Yodobashi to the east is only 26 metres, so there are some fairly steep slopes nearby, and a few sidewalks turn into steps. The Oedo Line station was built as one structure with the Metropolitan Expressway tunnel, so the platform is on the fourth basement level and the escalators down from the ticket gates are very long. Public transport ranks 50th, which is in Tokyo's top third but less of a standout than the neighbourhood's other scores.

04A bit of history

The station takes its name from Nakano-zaka, the slope on Ome-kaido: heading west from Shinjuku, you cross Yodobashi Bridge over the Kanda River and climb the slope to reach the top, Nakano-sakaue. According to Hosen-ji's own founding story, the temple was established by Minamoto no Yoshiie in the Kanji era (1087–1093), and moved here from Asagaya only in the Muromachi period. Its three-storey pagoda was built in 1636 and appears in the Edo Meisho Zue; it burned in the air raid of May 1945, and the present pagoda was rebuilt in 1992 in the Asuka style. The Marunouchi Line reached here in 1961, and the Oedo Line in 1997. Redevelopment of the intersection began with a plan Nakano Ward put forward in 1986, and all three blocks were finished by April 1999.

Written by TidyMap · updated 2026-10 · 8 sources

Compared with the 155 Tokyo neighbourhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)

Street Environment8.3No. 3

Cleanliness9.3No. 4

Buildings8.3No. 8

Sidewalks7.3No. 4

Greenery8.1No. 3

Convenience8.4No. 41

Transit7.7No. 50

Everyday shopping8.7No. 50

Healthcare9.3No. 38

Nearby neighbourhoods

The closest neighbourhoods in the same city.

Higashi-NakanoHigashi-Nakano 1–5 chome around the station and along the Kanda River Shin-nakanoShin-nakano Station on the Marunouchi Line and the Nabeya-yokocho shopping street, Nakano's densest homes on both sides of Ome-kaido NakanoNakano Sun Mall and Broadway north of the station, with Nakano 2 and 3 chome to the south Arai-YakushimaeThe Kamitakada homes, the Arai Yakushi temple streets and Tetsugakudo Park around Arai-Yakushimae Station NumabukuroThe Numabukuro Shinkokai shopping street running from the station up to Shin-Ome Kaido, and the homes along the Myoshoji River

59 blocks · Curated boundary · Data version 2026-10-02

How are these measured?

Compared against the Tokyo neighbourhoods in this guide; metrics without enough data are not ranked. Shopping counts convenience stores plus the nearer of a supermarket or a traditional market (public and private retail markets); night markets, vendor zones and shopping-street shops are not counted. Transit is rail-first with a lower weight for buses.

TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. About data limits

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Plus everyday convenienceAccess to transit, shopping and healthcare from public facility data, combined with the street environment into the overall score

How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data

TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. Street environment scores use AI assessments of imagery; convenience scores use public facility data.

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