is a neighbourhood in Tokyo, northwest of Iidabashi Station. It has a shopping street at its center, lined by numerous

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s and restaurants. It is served by Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and Toei Oedo Line.

History

The main road of Kagurazaka was once at the outer edge of

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

, opposite the Ushigome bridge over the castle

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, and has always been busy because of this privileged location. In the early 20th century, the area was renowned for its numerous

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...

houses, of which several remain today. Currently, Kagurazaka is experiencing a popularity boom due to its traditional atmosphere on the edge of modern

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

ward, the existence of the original campus of Tokyo University of Science and its proximity to

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. The area is also home to a number of publishing houses. While it retains a traditional Japanese atmosphere, Kagurazaka now has a significant French presence with many French expatriates living in the area due to the proximity of l'Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo and the Lycée Franco-Japonais de Tokyo's primary section. Kagurazaka also has Tokyo's largest concentration of French eateries, bakeries and cheese shops. l'Institut Franco-Japonais holds a lively program of cultural events, food tastings, and film screenings. Kagurazaka is also widely regarded as an important center of Japanese cuisine within the Kanto region. Several old and famous '' ryōtei'' are to be found in the winding back streets, often accessible only by foot. These provide expensive ''

kaiseki or is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. The term also refers to the collection of skills and techniques that allow the preparation of such meals and is analogous to Western haute cuisine. There are two kinds of traditional Japanes ...

'' cuisine, generally regarded as the pinnacle of Japanese food. They also allow diners to invite

to provide entertainment during the evening. Many shops in the area cater to this culture, especially selling kimono, Japanese sweets, and tea.

Festivals

The Kagurazaka

Awa Odori The is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and mu ...

(Japanese: 阿波踊り) festival (originating in Tokushima) is held the fourth Friday and Saturday each July. The Kagurazaka connection to the dance goes back to the Edo era, when the Tokugawa daimyō donated the Ushigome Mitsuke. This is the fortified gate at the bottom of the Kagurazaka hill, on the opposite side of the canal. Today, only its foundations remain, just to the south of JR

Iidabashi is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was in the former ward of Kōjimachi, which existed in Tokyo until 1947. Etymology Iidabashi is named after a nearby bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical o ...

station.

Religious buildings

Akagi Shrine (赤城神社 ''Akagi Jinja'') was formerly at the top end of Kagurazaka. It was redeveloped with a new

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

and apartment complex, designed by

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...

and opened to the public in September 2010.

Notes

External links

Akagi Shrine Official Website in JapaneseMore information at Japanvisitor
{{Authority control Neighborhoods of Tokyo Districts of Shinjuku Ethnic enclaves in Japan

History

Festivals

Religious buildings

See also

Notes

External links