Shimura-sakaue: paired Edo-era Nakasendo milestone mounds still stand, and the spring-fed pond lets you boat and watch waterbirds
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
Exits A1 and A2 of Shimura-sakaue Station lead to the ticket gate on the side facing the Shimura Ichirizuka intersection. In 1604, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered that ichirizuka (milestone mounds) be built along every highway, and this one was the 3rd along the Nakasendo; a pair of earthen mounds still stand here in their original spots, now a nationally designated historic site.
About 200 meters from the station, Mitsugi Park has a spring-fed pond where you can row a boat and watch waterbirds. On Sundays and holidays during the day, the Shimura Ginza shopping street around the station is closed off and turned into a pedestrian zone.
This neighborhood covers Shimura 1-chome, Azusawa 1- through 4-chome, Maeno-cho 3- and 4-chome, and Higashi-sakashita 1-chome, with a population of about 34,000 as of 2020. An escarpment about 20 meters high runs through the neighborhood, with a plateau above the slope and the Arakawa lowland below.
Based on our street photos, greenery ranks 64th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, toward the front - the highest-ranking category for this neighborhood.
At the east end of the escarpment, Azusawa Park reopened after renovation in 2020, with a loop running track, tennis courts, and a lawn. Medical and pharmacy ranks 238th, toward the back; even so, Itabashi Chuo General Hospital is right in Azusawa, open since 1956.
Public transit ranks 238th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, at the tail end of the middle, the weakest category for this neighborhood. The neighborhood has only one station, on the Mita Line; getting to Ikebukuro or Akabane relies on the Ike20 and Aka56 bus routes.
Flooding is concentrated at the bottom of the slope. Using the Geospatial Information Authority's flood map, we sampled points about every 40 meters across the neighborhood and calculated that about 30% of the points fall within the anticipated flood zone.
At the bottom of the slope, almost the entire area of Higashi-sakashita 1-chome and about 60% of Azusawa 4-chome are expected to see flooding of 3 meters or more; at the top of the slope, Shimura 1-chome has less than 10%. The City's policy is to evacuate to non-flooding areas within the City, since taking refuge in a high-rise building could mean being stranded for a long time. Itabashi City's flood hazard map comes in two versions: one for Arakawa River flooding and one for smaller and medium rivers.
The station name Shimura-sakaue predates the subway by more than a decade. In 1944, the Toei Streetcar Shimura Line reached this point, with its terminus called Shimura; in 1955 the line was extended to Shimurabashi, and this stop was then renamed Shimura-sakaue.
In 1956, the Japan Housing Corporation built Itabashi City's first rental danchi (housing complex) in Azusawa. The streetcar stopped running in 1966; in 1968 Subway Line 6 (today's Mita Line) opened, and before the station officially opened it was temporarily called Shimura 1-chome, before it finally adopted the streetcar's station name.
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.
Maps show the shops and the sights. What a street is like, you only know by walking it. TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn each area's street environment and everyday convenience into something you can compare. Search an address and look at the street outside first.
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.
Content is for personal browsing. Official TidyMap neighborhood cards may be shared as generated; anyone using one commercially is responsible for their own compliance (sharing guidelines). Bulk extraction, APIs and dataset redistribution require a data licence — email us. This site uses Google Analytics and Cloudflare Analytics.