Where the name Hongo 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.
Hongo is thought to have originated as a name for the central part of Yushima. The area was once called Yushima Hongo, but the first word was eventually dropped. Leave Hongo-sanchome Station and you arrive near the intersection of Hongo-dori and Kasuga-dori, on elevated ground known as the Hongo Plateau. These roads have connected settlements across this high ground for centuries.
Hongo-dori follows the historic Nakasendo highway. In the Edo period, samurai residences stood alongside busy shopping streets. Local lanes acquired informal names associated with their trades: fish sellers, clam merchants, bathhouses, and shops selling fried tofu. Walk north toward the University of Tokyo's Red Gate, then return west toward Kikuzaka. The gentle slope leads down from the plateau into a lower valley, revealing a different side of the neighborhood.
Samurai estates and merchants' houses developed here in the early Edo period. During the Meiji era, the former Kaga domain residence to the north became the site of the University of Tokyo, bringing students and scholars into the district. The neighborhood changed from a samurai and merchant town into an academic center, but its old highway and distinctive slopes remain part of its identity.
→ At Hongo-sanchome intersection, notice where Hongo-dori and Kasuga-dori cross. Walk north to the University of Tokyo's Red Gate, then head west toward Kikuzaka. The descent from the main road into the valley shows how the old highway followed the higher ground.
Sources (in Japanese): 文京ふるさと歴史館「まちの名前」, 国立国会図書館「錦絵と写真でめぐる日本の名所・本郷・東京大学」
Hongo-sanchome was a lively shopping district along the Nakasendo highway. During the Kyoho era, between 1716 and 1736, a dentist named Kaneyasu Yuetsu reportedly began selling a popular tooth powder called Nyukosan here. After a major fire in 1730, authorities required more fire-resistant buildings south of this area, while wooden houses remained common to the north. This contrast gave rise to a famous saying that Edo extended only as far as Kaneyasu.
Walk north along Hongo-dori and you reach the University of Tokyo's Red Gate. The gate was built in 1827 to mark the marriage of Princess Yohime, daughter of Shogun Tokugawa Ienari, into the Maeda family of the Kaga domain. The vast samurai estate was later transformed into university grounds, changing the surrounding neighborhood into a center of education and scholarship.
Head west from the main road and descend Kikuzaka, a quieter slope associated with modern Japanese literature. The novelist Higuchi Ichiyo lived in a rented house here from 1890 and repeatedly visited the nearby Iseya pawnshop when her family struggled financially. Its historic storehouse still survives. From the busy highway to the samurai estate and down into the residential valley, a short walk reveals how merchants, powerful lords, and struggling writers once occupied very different parts of Hongo.
→ Begin at the former Kaneyasu shop building at Hongo-sanchome intersection. Walk north to the University of Tokyo's Red Gate, then explore Kikuzaka and the surviving Iseya pawnshop storehouse associated with Higuchi Ichiyo. Notice the change from the broad plateau road to the quieter streets descending into the valley.
Sources (in Japanese): 文京区「かねやすビル」, 文京ふるさと歴史館「菊坂」
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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).