Where the name Kasai 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.
Kasai once referred to a much larger region than the neighborhood around today's station. The name meant the western part of Katsushika District in the ancient province of Shimosa. Around the eleventh century, the Edo River became a geographical dividing line: the land to its west was called Kasai, while the eastern side was called Kato. Historic Kasai included areas corresponding to several modern Tokyo wards and parts of eastern Saitama.
Walk north from Kasai Station toward the waterways connected with the Shin River and Old Edo River. This is a low-lying delta landscape, with almost no natural hills. During the Edo period, settlements such as Nagashima and Kuwagawa developed among rice fields and drainage channels. Farther south, reclaimed coastal land supported farming, fishing, and seaweed cultivation.
In 1889, the villages of Kuwagawa, Nagashima, Higashi-Ukita, and Nishi-Ukita merged to form Kasai Village. The ancient regional name gradually became associated with this smaller district. When Kasai Station opened in 1969, railway access accelerated the conversion of fields into residential neighborhoods. The name still carries the memory of a region far larger than modern Kasai.
→ Walk north from Kasai Station toward the Shin River, then explore Kasai Shinsui Shiki-no-Michi, a greenway following the former Nagashima River. Notice the flat land and old water routes. They help explain how this district developed within the much larger historical region called Kasai.
Sources (in Japanese): 江戸川区郷土資料室「江戸川区の地名（3）葛西」, 江戸川区立図書館『江戸川地名の変遷とその集解』中世の村名
Until the mid-twentieth century, Kasai was a district of rice fields, lotus ponds, fishing communities, and seaweed farms. The Old Edo River flowed to the east, the Arakawa and Nakagawa rivers bordered the west, and tidal flats extended toward Tokyo Bay. Farmers used the wet ground to grow rice and lotus, while coastal families cultivated nori seaweed. The landscape was defined by water long before apartment buildings lined the streets.
Walk north from Kasai Station toward the Shin River. This canal was part of an Edo-period transport network carrying salt from Gyotoku to the capital. In 1629, the shogunate widened the old Funabori River and excavated a new channel. Boats transported salt and other goods, while merchants established businesses along the banks. The Nagashima River, farther south, connected settlements within the farming district.
Kasai Station opened on March 29, 1969, bringing the Tozai Line to the area. Land readjustment and new roads accelerated residential development. Rice fields and lotus ponds gave way to apartments, schools, and shops. The Nagashima River corridor became Kasai Shinsui Shiki-no-Michi, while the Shin River gained landscaped banks and cherry trees. Following these waterways reveals how a farming and fishing community became a modern Tokyo suburb.
→ Walk north to the cherry-lined Shin River, then return south to Kasai Shinsui Shiki-no-Michi. This approximately 2.1-kilometer greenway follows the former Nagashima River. Together, the two routes preserve the waterways that once connected Kasai's rice fields, lotus ponds, and river transport.
Sources (in Japanese): 江戸川区「葛西地区の紹介」, 江戸川区「葛西親水四季の道」
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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).