OCHANOMIZU STATION (TOKYO)
A treasure trove of shops, teahouses
| Commuters can transfer to the Chuo or Sobu lines at Ochanomizu Station. The illuminated Hijiribashi bridge transforms the area into a beautiful night scene. |
| Passengers wait at the station. |
| A barge is pulled past the busy station. |
| Kimono-clad children celebrate Shichi-go-san, a festival for children who are 3, 5 or 7 years old, at Kanda Myojin shrine. |
Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Eishi Miyasaka
By Shoji Ichihara
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
JR Ochanomizu Station is surrounded by places where you can learn and have fun.
No more than five minutes after leaving the station you can find almost any kind of place, from teahouses to artists' supply shops to music stores.
To the southeast lies Akihabara's Electric Town district, while down a gentle slope to the south is the Jimbocho second-hand book quarter.
Sunday artists, who feared the townscape would disappear in the wake of redevelopment, formed an association in March 1985 to draw the town of Kanda.
Every month for nearly 20 years they have drawn the streets and landscape within a one-hour walk of the station, an area stretching from Jimbocho to Hibiya Park on both sides of the Imperial Palace.
In the beginning, they drew the landscape around Hijiribashi bridge, near the station. Even afterward, they mostly concentrated on areas near the station as there are so many buildings of note there, including Nikolai Cathedral and Kanda Myojin shrine.
Yuji Shimoda, 63, the first chairman of the association, loves the view looking down from Hijiribashi bridge.
Small boats sail along the Kandagawa river, trains clatter by constantly and students and salaried workers jam the station.
Shimoda calls the view Kanda's miniature garden.
Walking around the area is the best way to learn and have fun.
Teahouses are a conspicuous sight around the station. The enchanting sight of Miro, an art gallery teahouse, is irresistible.
Yoshi Hasegawa, 85, transformed a pre-war house into the teahouse in 1955.
In an area crowded with many universities and publishing houses, he said, "I just wanted to have a place for artists and intellectuals to relax."
The teahouse is decorated with reproductions of famous paintings and of Ludwig van Beethoven's death mask.
Many celebrities, including the late novelist Yukio Mishima (1925-70) and actress Yasue Yamamoto (1905-93), were patrons of Miro.
JAPANESE
The Daily Yomiuri, The Yomiuri Shimbun
