Kichijōji


Kichijōji is a neighborhood in the city of Musashino in Tokyo, Japan. It is centered on a compact but very popular commercial area to the north of its train station and to the south a little, with a full range of shops, restaurants, bars, and coffee houses. Kichijōji Station is served by the Chūō Line which runs to Tokyo Central Station in around 30 minutes, Sobu Line, Tozai Line and is also a terminus of the Keiō Inokashira Line, which takes passengers as far as Shibuya, another fashionable shopping center in Tokyo, in around 20 minutes on the express service.
The area is a popular place centre for shopping and leisure in the Tokyo metropolitan area and is also home to Inokashira Park and its zoo.
The area has been voted the number 1 place that people in Japan wish they would live, every year since the 1990s according to polls by the magazine CNN GO.

History

This town was named after the Kichijō-ji Temple which was located in Bunkyō City, Tokyo, before being destroyed by fire in the year 1657. This temple, in turn, derived its name from the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, corresponding to Kisshōten in Japan.
During the Great fire of Meireki, the town in front of Suwazan Kichijō-ji Temple gate, Edo's Hongo Motomachi was destroyed by fire. Afterwards, based on town planning, the shogunate rebuilt the area for daimyō residences. Since the residents who used to live in front of Kichijo-ji gate had suffered great loss of residence and farm land, the shogunate's official reed lands named "Reno" and "Mureno" were provided as substitute land for them. Those hoping to apply were given a rice stipend and house construction loans with a 5 year limit. Kichijo-ji samurai, Sato Sadaemon and Miyazaki Jinemon, in cooperation with local farmer Matsui Jurozaemon, opened up the eastern district of present day Musashino and relocated the residents there.
Soon after, with the opening of the Tamagawa Aqueduct, the previously poorly watered uninhabited Musashino Plateau was cultivated, turning it into a vast farmland. In the process, the neatly partitioned thin rectangular shaped plots of land along Itsukaichi Kaidō were formed. Some migrants were granted great lengths of land of more than 1000 meters long in the land area extending from Itsukaichi Kaidō to the Tamagawa Aqueduct, up to where the Senkawa Aqueduct divides. But the soil was not particularly fertile, so all of the farmland became dry soil fields, with no wet rice fields. Because of the residents who still had attachment to the former Kichijo-ji, the new fields were named Kichijōji Village.

Economy

The neighborhood is dominated by a shopping district centered on a covered street, Sun Road, which extends north from Kichijōji Station. This well organized and clean area includes amenities, shops, entertainment and restaurants.
Halfway up this shopping street is the Buddhist temple Gessō-ji, with graveyard, and at the northern end of it are Shinto shrines, the latter holding the occasional festival, with amusements such as fishing for gold fish, sweet food stalls, and typical dishes.
On the north, east, and south sides of the station is a large nightlife area with many restaurants, bars, izakaya, and "live" houses. On the north-east side of the station lies a red-light district on the Chūō Line between Tachikawa and Shinjuku, containing numerous cabarets, bars, and pink salons.
The anime and manga companies Coamix and Bee Train have their headquarters in Kichijōji. Studio Ghibli was previously located in Kichijōji.

Inokashira Park

, the source of the Kanda River, is located south of Kichijōji Station, and is a favorite spot for springtime hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing. Public-opinion surveys consistently designate Kichijōji one of Tokyo's most desirable residential neighborhoods. It features a large center lake, petting zoo, small cafes, food vendors, and street performers around the perimeter of the park. Nearby is the Ghibli Museum, which is part of the neighboring city Mitaka.

Education

is a private university in the northwestern area of the district. It is part of a wider educational institute—an escalator school—which teaches from elementary school right through to university level, and is situated amongst rows of large trees in that area of Kichijōji.
Little Angels International School, a private international school, previously had a campus in Kichijōji.

Kichijōji in popular culture

Kichijōji is often portrayed in a variety of television shows, motion pictures, literature, and other media.

Video games