Rikugien Garden & Sugamo ( Jizo-Dori )

Taking the Toden Arakawa line street car you can buy an unlimited day pass to hop on and off as you please . It is the only remaining street car left and has 30 stations so you can spend the day exploring on a nostalgic ride.

Starting at Waseda station I started my journey getting off at Koshinzuka and walking down the 800 meter Jizo Dori Shopping district.  The area known as Sugamo is a little different to say Ginza or shibuya it has the playful name of “old ladies Harajuku ” over 200 shops of food, clothes and every day items marketed at the elderly.

On this street is a Temple called Koganji and people visit there to heal ailments. Though I must say all the old people I saw here were so spritely riding around on their bicycles and enjoying life to the full.

This place has a lovely laid back atmosphere and was really interesting to visit.

Getting to the end of the street I walked to near by Sugamo station and caught the train to the Rikugien Garden.  A landscape strolling garden with a large central pond and tea houses . This would be a lovely place to visit in Autumn as it has many maple trees that turn a wonderful shade at that time of year (one of Tokyos best autumn colour spots)

Getting the train back and walking back up Jizo Dori to get back on the street car my next place I wanted to visit was Kajiwara for a momento of the street car you can find a wagashi shop there selling monaka made into the shape of the street car in little street car boxes . A bean paste filled cake sold in a shop called Akemi Seika .