Where the name Edogawabashi comes from, what stood here before the station, and what you can still spot on a walk today. Then the events near the station that we have checked on the official pages.
Leave Edogawabashi Station and you will find the Kanda River, not a river called Edogawa. Yet the bridge and nearby park both retain the older name. Until 1965, an approximately two-kilometer stretch between the middle of today's Edogawa Park and Iidabashi was known as the Edogawa. A revision of Japan's River Law standardized the name Kanda River along the entire watercourse.
During the Edo period, water was diverted from the river at the Sekiguchi Oarai Weir to supply the city through the Kanda waterworks. The downstream channel was called Edogawa. One explanation links this name to its course toward Edo Castle's outer moat and the city center, though the precise origin has not been conclusively established.
Follow the river upstream from the station. On one side, the steep southern edge of the Sekiguchi plateau rises above the water. On the other, lower ground stretches along the river corridor. Rice paddies once occupied parts of the valley, while estates and temples stood on the higher slopes. The waterway has changed its official name, but the bridge and park still preserve the memory of the old Edogawa.
→ Cross Edogawabashi Bridge and enter Edogawa Park along the Kanda River. Notice how the bridge and park retain the river's former name. Compare the steep wooded slope on the north bank with the flatter riverside path to understand the valley's geography.
Sources (in Japanese): 文京区「水と緑の関口コース」, 東京都公園協会「神田川を歩く 高田馬場〜水道橋付近」
Walk upstream from Edogawabashi Station and you approach an essential part of Edo's drinking-water system. Near today's Otaki Bridge stood the Sekiguchi Oarai Weir. It raised the level of water flowing from sources including Inokashira Pond, directing part of the flow into the Kanda waterworks. The supply passed through the large Daisensui pond at the Mito domain's Koishikawa estate before continuing toward Kanda and Nihonbashi.
Above the river's northern bank rises the Sekiguchi plateau. During the Edo period, the Kuroda family of the Kururi domain maintained a suburban estate on this high ground. In the Meiji period, the property became the residence of statesman Yamagata Aritomo and was later known as Chinzanso. Hiroshige's 1857 woodblock print of the Sekiguchi waterworks shows the surrounding landscape with rice fields stretching across the lowlands.
The Kanda River also brought destructive floods. After the severe flooding of 1910, local political figure Oi Gendo helped advance river improvements completed in 1919. Edogawa Park emerged from this work. Walking beside the river and looking up toward the plateau reveals a landscape once shared by farmers, water engineers, feudal lords, and later flood-control projects.
→ Start at the bust of Oi Gendo in Edogawa Park, then walk upstream toward the former Oarai Weir near Otaki Bridge. Look up at the steep northern slope toward Chinzanso, once a feudal estate. The riverbank and the elevated gardens preserve contrasting parts of the old landscape.
Sources (in Japanese): 文京ふるさと歴史館「関口大洗堰」, 文京区「椿山荘」
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We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).