Take a walk in Ryogoku a place in which the atmosphere of the old Edo Tokyo still exists.

Speaking of Ryogoku is sumo wrestling.
Because it is the town of sumo, the name “Yokozuna-yokocho” creates the atmosphere! This place is not only famous for sumo but also the land in which a fairly large amount of famous people from historical textbooks have relations to.

This monument is a monument that points out the place where the famous literary Ryunosuke Akutagawa grew up. Although he was born in Kyobashi ward, Irifune-cho 8 (currently Chuo ward, Akashi-cho), because his mother became sick when he was 7 months old, he was taken in by his uncle Dosho Akutagawa who lived here. The Akutagawa family had strong interests in Edo, they often went to see the Kabuki, and as a whole learned the clauses all day. It may be said that this is the environment in which his talents were born.

This is the museum of Paulownia wood. It is located about 7 minutes away from Ryogoku station east exit by walk, and there is the general Paulownia wood chest maker “Tanaka” that has number of its companies within the nation on the 1st floor. The Paulownia wood chests that were created during the Edo cultural period (1804~1818), the monochord that holds a history of over 400 years, and other rare Paulownia products all are displayed. You can also learn about the deep relations the Japanese have with Paulownia wood, and its magnificent characteristics. It may be nice to start using Paulownia products from this opportunity!

Next, we go back towards the Ryogoku station and have lunch. In fact we wanted to eat the Chanko Nabe (weight-gaining stew for sumo wrestlers) that has relations with sumo, so we decided to go to “Chanko Kirishima”. It is a large store in which an 8 floor building all filled with Chanko shops. It is supposedly the store of former Ozeki (rank of sumo) Kirishima’s shop.

We had the Chanko set with the sashimi. It had a lot of ingredients with, fried tofu, chicken minced fish, pork, and a lot of vegetables; it was very fulfilling! The light refreshing soup was also delicious. It was even more delicious putting a lot of sesame seeds on top! Please try this sometime.

Next we go out JR Ryogoku station west exit. And we are finally here; The Japanese traditional sports area, the Kokugikan.

When you see the under construction sign here, doesn’t it start to look like the sumo wrestling move?

This is the entrance part of the Kokugikan. We’ve only had the chance to see it on television, so it was fascinating seeing it up close in real life.

There are the names of the most current famous wrestlers lined up.

When there is a sumo match there gathers the many sumo fans, and it becomes a very exciting place.

This is the Museum of Edo Tokyo that is right next to the Kokugikan.
It is a rather unique building of having a B1 floor until the 7th floor, its height is about the same as the Donjon’s Edo castle.

In the museum there displays the informations that are related to how the Edo is being lost, and the histories and cultures of Tokyo. From the Ukiyoe to other drawings, the lifestyles of the Edo common people, and cultures so on can be seen. You can also get to know about Tokyo’s history that you may not have known.
We would like you to at least take a look around once.

We decided to walk towards the Sumida river that is a little bit farther away from the station.

We arrive at the Ryogoku Bridge. Here is the Sumida river that becomes prosperous every summer with the fireworks show.

Because the weather was nice we deiced to walk along the river bed.

The fence along the side of the river was drawings of the sumo wrestling moves. Only in Ryogoku.

Along the river bed Ukiyoes drawn back then were lined up, so it was fun looking at these and the view.
The far right picture is the fireworks show. There are a lot of people lined on the bridge. The firework showed in the summer was a popular event back then as well.

We got to see the Tokyo Sky Tree! It would be nice to be able to see the view from the Sky Tree too!

Our coverage ends here. Ryogoku is a town that is growing into a prosperous city that also leaves behind the old towns from history. You could probably discover more new old towns. The Edo gourmet is still in need to be seen. Please do take a stroll.