Around Ikebukuro Station: before it was Ikebukuro

The Lost Pond Behind the Name Ikebukuro

One possible origin of Ikebukuro's name is a pond that once existed close to today's busy railway station. Toshima City identifies it as Maruike, a spring-fed pond that formerly supplied the headwaters of the Tsurumaki River. The city's official description carefully states that the pond is said to have given Ikebukuro its name; it does not present the explanation as a proven fact. The pond itself has disappeared. A park called Moto-Ikebukuro Park once occupied its former location, but sewer construction led to a land exchange and relocation. The present Moto-Ikebukuro Historic Site Park opened in 1998. It preserves a stone monument commemorating the pond associated with the district's name. Although the surrounding area is now dominated by shops, offices, and railway infrastructure, this small public space recalls a very different landscape.

→ Visit Moto-Ikebukuro Historic Site Park near the west side of Ikebukuro Station and find the stone marking the pond associated with the name.

Sources (in Japanese): 豊島区公式・元池袋史跡公園

Was Sunshine 60 Built on the Site of a Prison?

One of Ikebukuro's most famous skyscrapers stands on land once occupied by a prison. According to Toshima City, the area was used for institutions known at different times as Sugamo Prison, Sugamo Penitentiary, Tokyo Detention House, and Sugamo Prison under the Allied occupation. Its institutional history dates back to 1895.

After World War II, the compound known as Sugamo Prison was operated under Allied authority. Tokyo Detention House eventually relocated to Kosuge in 1971, opening the way for redevelopment. In 1978, Sunshine City opened, combining the 60-story Sunshine 60 tower with shopping, entertainment, and other facilities.

Ikebukuro's wider transformation was equally dramatic. Its railway station opened in 1903. During the air raid of April 13, 1945, approximately 70 percent of Toshima Ward's area was burned. Department stores and commercial developments subsequently helped turn Ikebukuro into a major shopping district.

Sunshine City's opening also drew visitors farther east from the station, reshaping the neighborhood. Today's entertainment destination occupies land with a history of imprisonment, wartime destruction, and postwar reconstruction.

→ Visit Sunshine 60 and nearby Higashi-Ikebukuro Central Park, and picture the former prison compound that once occupied this large urban block.

Sources (in Japanese): 豊島区「景観百選・サンシャイン60の歴史」, 豊島区「広報としま・写真と絵で知るいま・むかし」, 財務省「路線価でひもとく街の歴史・池袋」, 豊島区「東池袋駅周辺地域のまちづくり」