Once the heart of Ikebukuro, a shitamachi neighborhood whose shrine has a man-made Mount Fuji that opens for climbing every July
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
Hikawa Shrine in Ikebukuro-Honcho was the guardian shrine of the old Ikebukuro village, and its grounds also hold a Fuji-zuka — a small hill built in imitation of Mount Fuji — that opens every year on July 1st. This area was once the center of Ikebukuro, and its streets still carry an old-style shitamachi feel, though in recent years quite a few large apartment buildings have gone up here too.
Around Kita-ikebukuro Station, Shimo-itabashi Station, and along Ikebukuro-Honcho-dori, shopping streets have formed that stick close to daily life. The two stations are about 800 meters apart.
Near Shimo-itabashi Station there's a park literally named the Ikebukuro-Honcho Train-Viewing Park. In 2020, about 32,000 people lived in the neighborhood, and more than six in ten households were single-person households, the same as Toshima City overall.
For everyday shopping, out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo this one ranks 76th — the best ranking it gets in any category. The Ikebukuro-Honcho-dori shopping street also holds the Yusa-ichi fair, selling local specialties from Yusa, Yamagata Prefecture, Toshima City's sister town. Kita-ikebukuro Station is just one stop from Ikebukuro, 1.2 kilometers away, but only Local trains stop there.
The former course of the Yabata River has now been turned into the Yabata River North Greenway running through Ikebukuro-Honcho. Kami-Ikebukuro's Koyasu Inari Shrine is said to have been rebuilt around 1573, and it enshrines a deity of safe childbirth.
The level crossings on either side of Kita-ikebukuro Station span four passenger lines in all, on the Tojo Line and the Saikyo Line, and during rush hour they turn into crossings that just won't open. Going by our street photos, the neighborhood environment ranks 368th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, while its buildings rank only 356th — the lowest of any category. Apart from the commercial strip along Meiji-dori, most of Kami-Ikebukuro is a postwar residential area with lots of narrow lanes.
Shimo-itabashi Station opened in 1914 with the Tojo Railway, and it wasn't until 1935 that it moved to its current location. In 1920, Sakuma Seika, maker of Sakuma Drops fruit candies, built a factory in Kami-Ikebukuro 2-chome, which kept running until the company was dissolved during the war. Kita-ikebukuro Station, meanwhile, opened in 1934 as Horinouchi Station.
The air raids of April 1945 damaged more than half the area of both Ikebukuro-Honcho and Kami-Ikebukuro, and even the station building at Kita-ikebukuro collapsed. After the war, before the roads had even been properly laid out, large numbers of wooden apartment buildings went up, with housing and factories mixed together. In 1951, the station reopened on the same site under the name Kita-ikebukuro.
Compared with the 395 Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Hospitals with inpatient beds (2020 data), public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area, high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores. Many Tokyo junior high students attend private schools, so junior high catchments are only a guide.
Maps show the shops and the sights. What a street is like, you only know by walking it. TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn each area's street environment and everyday convenience into something you can compare. Search an address and look at the street outside first.
How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. Street environment scores use AI assessments of imagery; convenience scores use public facility data.
Content is for personal browsing. Official TidyMap neighborhood cards may be shared as generated; anyone using one commercially is responsible for their own compliance (sharing guidelines). Bulk extraction, APIs and dataset redistribution require a data licence — email us. This site uses Google Analytics and Cloudflare Analytics.