Slower-paced old-town homes by the canals, the old Tokaido and the Samezu driving-licence centre
Samezu Station is a small elevated station, and on the Keikyu Line only the local trains stop here. Just east of the station is the Samezu Driving License Test Center, and in 2020 the station added it as a secondary station name. West of the station are mostly newer apartment buildings, while the east side has the test centre and older houses.
Compared with neighbouring Aomono-yokocho, the pace here is much slower: a few shops are scattered along the old Tokaido road, and on the whole it is quiet. For public transport it ranks 52nd out of 155 neighbourhoods in Tokyo. About 10 minutes' walk west is Oimachi Station, served by JR, the Rinkai Line and the Tokyu Oimachi Line. Aomono-yokocho Station, 0.5 km to the north, is served by limited express and express trains.
The Rinkai Line runs underground nearby, but there is no transfer station between it and the Keikyu Line. In our street-view photo ratings, cleanliness ranks 150th out of 155 neighbourhoods, the weakest aspect here. Daily shopping ranks 138th and clinics and pharmacies rank 145th. Both measure the distance from each block to the nearest shop or clinic; here the shops are scattered along the old Tokaido road, so some blocks need a longer walk.
There is a legend behind the name Samezu: in Kencho 3 (1251), a large dead shark is said to have washed up off Shinagawa, and when fishermen cut it open they found a carved wooden Kannon statue inside. People enshrined the Kannon and called the place Samezu ("shark shoal"), and when the regent Hojo Tokiyori heard the story he granted land for a temple, which is how Kaian-ji began. Kaian-ji lies outside this neighbourhood, in Minami-Shinagawa 5-chome on the Aomono-yokocho side, and in the Edo period it was a famous spot for autumn leaves. Another theory holds that the "shark" character was only borrowed for its sound and has nothing to do with fish. In the Edo period this was a fishing village, and nori seaweed is said to have been farmed here too. The station opened in 1904. When the residential address system was introduced in the 1960s, Oi-Samezu-cho was absorbed into Higashi-Oi, so the name no longer appears in addresses; only the station and the test centre still carry it.
Compared with the 155 Tokyo neighbourhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
43 blocks · Curated boundary · Data version 2026-10-02
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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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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