Where the name Kinshicho 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.
Kinshicho takes its name from a vanished waterway called Kinshibori. Historical accounts explain that an earlier name, Kishibori, gradually changed to Kinshibori, although the precise origin of the change remains uncertain. The elegant characters now used for Kinshi suggest brocade thread, but the name began with the canals of low-lying Honjo.
In the Edo period, waterways crisscrossed the district, carrying timber and everyday goods through eastern Edo. Kinshibori is associated with the area around today's Hokusai-dori, north of Kinshicho Station. Samurai residences stood nearby, while boats used the waterways to transport supplies. During the Meiji period, the district became known as Honjo Kinshicho, preserving the canal's name even as the landscape changed.
Leave the station through the north exit and follow Hokusai-dori west. The street now carries cars and pedestrians, but this was once a district shaped by waterways. Kinshibori is also one of the possible settings of Oitekebori, a famous story from the Seven Mysteries of Honjo. In the tale, a mysterious voice calls out to fishermen as they try to leave with their catch. Several locations are associated with the story, so its precise setting remains uncertain.
→ Walk west along Hokusai-dori, near the former Kinshibori canal. Then visit Kinshibori Park south of the station, where a kappa statue recalls the mysterious Oitekebori story.
Sources (in Japanese): ブリタニカ国際大百科事典・錦糸町, 墨田区・本所七不思議について知りたい
The area north of Kinshicho Station was once a major center of manufacturing and transport. During the Edo period, canals crossed the low-lying Honjo district, supporting the movement of timber and supplies to samurai estates and local businesses. Industrial development accelerated during the Meiji period. In 1893, Seikosha, the watchmaking company associated with the origins of Seiko, moved its factory to a site just north of today's Kinshi Park.
The Sobu Railway opened in 1894, with a station called Honjo at the site of today's Kinshicho Station. Nearby factories manufactured railway equipment and other industrial products, while military facilities and warehouses occupied parts of the district. Goods arrived by water and departed by rail, making Kinshicho an important industrial transport hub. The landscape was filled with factories and storage buildings rather than shopping centers and entertainment venues.
Seikosha continued manufacturing here until the factory closed in 1997. The site was later redeveloped into the Olinas shopping and entertainment complex. Walk north from Kinshicho Station, through Kinshi Park, and toward Olinas. The route takes you from the railway that supported industrial growth to the former factory grounds that helped establish Japan's modern watch industry.
→ Walk north through Kinshi Park to Olinas, built on the former Seikosha factory site. The broad shopping-complex grounds once housed a major watchmaking operation that moved here in 1893.
Sources (in Japanese): 墨田区観光協会・錦糸町エリアマップ, 墨田区立図書館・すみだの今昔 写真資料
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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).