06 Uguisudani／鶯谷

Uguisudani is written as “鶯谷”.  “鶯“ means a nightingale and “谷” means a valley.  In the Edo period, Kaneiji temple, which is now located on the west side of Uguisudani station, was known for nightingales’ songs.  Kaneiji temple was established in 1625 as a Tokugawa shogun family’s temple and had quite a large site until the Meiji restoration in 1868.  After the Meiji restoration, the Meiji government expropriated most of Kaneiji temple’s site and reformed it into the Ueno Park and the Ueno station.

Tokyo University of the Arts is located on the west side of Uguisudani station.  The university is surrounded by a quiet residential area called Ueno Sakuragi, where many artists have lived since the opening of the university in 1887.

There were many cheap lodging houses for travelers and per diem workers (from Tohoku and Hokkaido, the northern part of Japan) on the east side of Uguisudani station, which were changed into or replaced by “love hotels” gradually after 1970.

The east area of Uguisudani station is called “Negishi”.  In the Meiji period, many writers, poets and artists loved and lived in this area.  Below is a photo of a house of Shiki Masaoka (1967-1902), a famous haiku poet.  The house was burned down by the Tokyo Air Raid in 1945 and restored in 1950.

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