is an area within Shibuya ward, one of the 23

special wards of Tokyo are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Although the aut ...

Introduction

Sendagaya is nestled in an urban green area in Shibuya ward between

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administrati ...

ward and Shinjuku Gyo-en (Shinjuku Imperial Gardens) to the north (an area in Sendagaya, 6-chōme, is actually located within the gardens). The National Stadium, also known as

Olympic Stadium, Tokyo The Japan National Stadium, officially named and formerly known as or , is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadium for the opening and c ...

is located immediately to the east, bordering Sendagaya 2-chome. Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Station are found to the west. Jingumae and Harajuku are directly south. Many important cultural and sporting venues are located in and around Sendagaya. Sendagaya is a mix of old, new, and incredibly futuristic designs. From Sendagaya Station, the main station in Sendagaya, bustling Shinjuku is a tranquil 10-minute walk away along the Imperial Gardens' western wall. Sendagaya Entrance to the gardens is 2 minutes away from Sendagaya Station. Sendagaya, particularly 3-chōme, is home to dozens of clothing and accessory design workshops, studios, offices, and fashion related agencies, including the mega-brand Bape. The narrow streets are filled daily with the hustle and bustle of courier companies picking up next season's designs and delivering the finished product.

Places of interest

Cultural

Theatre

Sendagaya includes several theaters and organizations related to the arts, such as the National Noh Theatre, designed by Hiroshi Oe and completed in 1983. Also, the Kinokuniya Southern Theater, the classical music Tsuda Hall (津田ホール), the Japan Federation of Composers, the Japan Theatre Arts Association, the Japan Association of Music Enterprises, the Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation, a troupe of opera singers dedicated to promoting and developing the western music movement, and the Japanese Centre of the International Theatre Institute are located in Sendagaya.

Shrines

A few minutes walk from the station, is the , an oasis of calm with its 300-year-old pine trees. This small shrine is a place of historical importance in Shibuya. Within the shrine, there is a stage for Japanese performing arts and a

fujizuka are small mounds, commonly found in and around Tokyo, which represent Mount Fuji. During the Edo period (1603–1868), a cult arose around the mountain, one of whose major devotional rites was to climb to the peak. Pilgrims who were unable through ...

, a replica of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...

made from stones carried from Mt. Fuji. Fujitsuka were common in Japan during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

and were constructed to allow people to make a symbolic pilgrimage to the sacred Mt. Fuji when travel between domains ( han) was not permitted for commoners under most circumstances. This fujitsuka is one of the few that survive in Tokyo.

Sports

A number of sports' complex are found nearby Sendgaya Station including the

(which actually sits in Shinjuku-ku) built for the 1958

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until th ...

and subsequently used for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Near the stadium, are other important venues, such as Meiji Jingu Skate and Curling Rink and Futsal Courts, the Meiji Jingu Stadium used by the Yakult Swallows

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

team, Jingu Secondary Stadium,

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium (also called Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium) is a rugby union stadium located in the Aoyama district of central Tokyo, Japan. It is the spiritual home of Japanese rugby union and the headquarters of the Japan Rugby Football Union. Named for ...

, and the

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium is a sporting complex in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1954 for the World Wrestling Championship, it was also used as the venue for gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and hosted the table tennis competition at the 2020 S ...

(東京体育館). Modern

Japanese architecture has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors ('' fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space t ...

is on display directly in front of Sendagaya Station at the metro gymnasium, which houses an Olympic size swimming pool, as well as a shorter 25m pool; an outdoor oval running track; a weight training room; and large indoor arena (photo opposite). The futuristic designed main arena, half built below ground, which seems to hover over the surrounding area, is used for a number of national and international sporting events, including the WTA Toray Pan Pacific Tennis Championships. The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, built in 1991, was designed by Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki.

Embassies

* Embassy of the Congo, Democratic Republic of (Sendagaya 3-chome) * Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco (2-chome)

Schools

operates public elementary and junior high schools. Sendagaya 2-3

chōme The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan. When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. When written in Latin characters, ...

and 1-chōme 1, and 11-12 ban are zoned to Sendagaya Elementary School ( 千駄谷小学校). Sendagaya 4-6 chōme, and 1-chōme 2-10 and 13-36 ban are zoned to Hatomori Elementary School ( 鳩森小学校). All of Sendagaya is zoned to Harajuku Gaien Junior High School ( 原宿外苑中学校). - Has junior high school zoning File:Sendagaya_Elementary_School_1.JPG, Sendagaya Elementary School ( 千駄谷小学校) File:鳩森小学校-1.JPG, Hatomori Elementary School ( 鳩森小学校) Post-secondary schools in Sendagaya: * Tokyo Design Academy (東京デザイン専門学校) (Sendagaya 3-chome) * Nippon Design College (日本デザイン専門学校) (Sendagaya 5-chome) * Tsuda School of Business (津田スクールオヴビズネス) (Sendagaya 1-chome)

Other

* NTT DoCoMo Yoyogi Building (Sendagaya 5-chome) * Takashimya Times Square, located at the southern exit of Shinjuku Station (Sendagaya 5-chome) * Kinokuniya Book Store (Sendagaya 5-chome) * Odayku Southern Terrace-Opposite Takashimaya Times Square *

Japanese Communist Party The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party advocates the establishment of a democ ...

Central Committee Headquarters (Sendagaya 4-chome) * Gap Japan Head Office (Sendagaya 5-chome) *

Japan Shogi Association The , or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materi ...

's headquarters NTT DoCoMo Yoyogi Building 2009 cropped

Transportation

Rail and Subway Stations

JR Sendagaya Station on the Chūō-Sōbu Line (中央総武線) is the neighborhood's main station. Yoyogi Station (JR Yamanote Line (山手線) and Chūō-Sobu) and Shinanomachi Station (信濃町駅)are the JR Chūō-Sobu Line stations on either side of Sendagaya. The southern half of

Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busies ...

, the world's busiest station, is also located in Sendagaya. Kokuritsu-Kyōgijō Station (E-25), on the Toei Ōedo Line (都営大江戸線), sits in front of Sendagaya Station. Kitasandō Station (北参道駅), nearby on Meiji Dōri (明治道り), on the new Fukutoshin Line (副都心線), is run by the Tokyo Metro. A little further on foot are the stations of Gaienmae (外苑前) in Minato-ku (港区) on the Ginza Line (銀座線), Omotesandō on the Ginza Line, Chiyoda Line (千代田線) and Hanzōmon Line (半蔵門線) and Meiji Jingu (明治神宮) on the (Chiyoda Line). Also, JR Harajuku on the Yamanote Line can be found nearby. The Royal Platform (宮廷ホーム), used by the Japanese Imperial Family during special occasions, is located along the Yamanote Line in Sendagaya 3-chome.

Roads

The Shuto Expressway (首都高速道路 Shuto-kōsoku-dōro) passes above Sendagaya running beside the Sobu Line tracks. On/Off ramps for the expressway are in Sendagaya and the neighbouring Shinanomachi area. Two major urban routes – Meiji Avenue (明治通り (Rt. 305) and Gaien Nishi Avenue (外延西道り) (Rt 418) – run through Sendagaya.

References

External links

Metropolis Travel, Sendagaya (en)

{{Authority control Neighborhoods of Tokyo Shibuya