Where the name Oshiage 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.
The name Oshiage may preserve a memory of how this low-lying part of Tokyo was formed. According to Tobu Railway, one theory says that tides pushed sediment onto land that had once been beneath the sea. Another suggests that floods deposited soil and gradually raised the ground. Neither explanation has been conclusively proven, but both connect the name to the movement of water and earth.
Leave Oshiage Station toward Tokyo Skytree and notice how level the surrounding streets are. Unlike the hills of western Tokyo, this district lies on the lowlands of the city's eastern side. The Kitajikken River runs east to west just south of the tower, and a modern pedestrian route follows its banks. There is little sense of climbing or descending because the neighborhood grew on relatively flat terrain shaped by waterways and sediment.
Today Oshiage is a major railway interchange, where several lines connect beneath and around Tokyo Skytree. But the area's transportation history began long before the tower. Railways and rivers once defined the neighborhood's movement of people and goods. The 634-meter tower rising above the lowlands creates a remarkable contrast: one of Tokyo's tallest structures stands on ground whose name may describe the slow accumulation of earth carried by water.
→ Leave Oshiage Station toward Tokyo Skytree and walk along the Kitajikken River. Notice the flat streets and the small difference in height between the river and the surrounding neighborhood. From the waterside path, look up at the 634-meter tower rising from Tokyo's eastern lowlands.
Sources (in Japanese): 東武鉄道「押上駅 駅名の由来」, 墨田区「押上・とうきょうスカイツリー駅周辺」
Before Tokyo Skytree became a landmark, its site was a large railway freight yard. Walk west from Oshiage Station and you will notice the long strip of land between the railway tracks and the Kitajikken River. This was once an important freight terminal for Tobu Railway, linking eastern Tokyo with destinations farther north. The ground now occupied by shops, an aquarium, and the tower was previously covered with railway facilities and tracks.
Nearby Narihirabashi Station opened on April 1, 1902, and developed into a terminal serving both passengers and freight. Freight train operations finally ended in March 1993. The unused yard became a storage area for railway materials while various redevelopment possibilities were considered. Its unusually large size made it valuable in a crowded part of Tokyo where assembling a major development site would otherwise have been difficult.
In March 2006, the Oshiage-Narihirabashi district was officially selected as the location for a new broadcasting tower. Tokyo Skytree Town opened on May 22, 2012, with the 634-meter tower at its center. What had once been a working railway landscape became a major visitor destination. The railways did not disappear, however. They still run along and beneath the complex, connecting the district to central Tokyo, the suburbs, and the region beyond.
→ Walk the length of Tokyo Skytree Town and observe its elongated layout between the Tobu railway and the Kitajikken River. Continue toward Tokyo Skytree Station and look back along the tracks. From the riverside, the scale of the former freight yard becomes easier to picture.
Sources (in Japanese): 東京スカイツリー公式「東京スカイツリーの歴史・誕生」, 東武鉄道「創造の時代へ 東京スカイツリータウン開業の舞台裏」
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).