Where the name Kameari 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.
Kameari was once written Kamenashi, using characters that could mean Turtle Without or Turtle Pear. The older name appears in records from the medieval Muromachi period. According to Katsushika City's history, kame may have referred to a slightly raised piece of land resembling a turtle's shell. Local tradition says the written characters for nashi, which could suggest absence or nothing, were considered unlucky and replaced with ari, meaning existence or possession. The spelling Kameari became established around the time of the shogunate's official mapping project in 1644.
Leave Kameari Station and notice the almost complete absence of hills. This is part of Tokyo's eastern lowlands. The Nakagawa River flows to the east, and flooding and sediment deposits historically shaped the surrounding land. Villages developed on slightly raised ground, while rice paddies occupied the wetter areas.
South of the station, old roads connect with the historic Mito Kaido highway. During the Edo period, Kameari was an agricultural village along a route used by travelers moving between Edo and the northeast. The neighboring Shinjuku district served as a post town. Behind the apparently cheerful name Kameari lies a history of floodplain geography and a deliberate preference for auspicious written characters.
→ Walk south from Kameari Station toward the old Mito Kaido route, then continue east toward the Nakagawa River. The flat streets and low riverside ground reveal the floodplain setting. The modern spelling Kameari preserves the Edo-period change from the older name Kamenashi.
Sources (in Japanese): 葛飾区史「第3章 地域の歴史・亀有」, 警視庁亀有警察署「警察署の概要・地名の由来」
The area around Kameari Station was once a farming village surrounded by rice paddies. Fields were especially common south of the old Mito Kaido highway. Local place names such as Maetsu, Sunaba, and Higashizutsumi reflected the agricultural landscape. West of the village ran a waterway originally built as part of the Honjo water supply system. After that system was discontinued in 1722, the channel was used for irrigation. Boats were later pulled along the water by people using ropes, giving rise to the name Hikifune River, or Towboat River.
Kameari began to change when its railway station opened in 1897. According to local history, the railway had originally considered placing the station at nearby Shinjuku, a former post town, but opposition there led to its construction in Kameari. In 1937, Hitachi established a factory in the district, attracting workers and stimulating shops and residential development around the station.
After World War II, the remaining farmland was steadily replaced by housing. The old waterway was eventually filled in, but its course survived as a long, narrow public space. Hikifune River Shinsui Park opened in 1990. Walk southwest from Kameari Station toward the park and you can follow the route of water that once supported rice cultivation and small-scale boat transport.
→ Leave Kameari Station by the south exit, pass through the shopping streets, and walk southwest toward Hikifune River Shinsui Park. The long, narrow park follows a former waterway where boats were pulled by ropes. Its waterside paths recall a Kameari once dominated by rice fields.
Sources (in Japanese): 葛飾区史「第5章 暮らしの移り変わり・亀有」, 葛飾区「曳舟川親水公園」
Every Thursday we post picks for the Tokyo weekend on Instagram at @kyochika.tokyo. Add this site to your home screen to open it like an app.
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).