Matsubara: little two-car trains, each a different colour, running past flowers along the line
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
The Setagaya Line trains all have just two cars, and the 10 trainsets each have different colors. Since 2001, flowers have been planted along the line to make the view from the windows nicer.
Walk one minute out of Matsubara Station and you reach Akamatsu Park, where tables and chairs sit beneath zelkova trees, along with a sports court and an ecology pond; the park is in Akatsutsumi 4-chome, which is now counted in the neighboring Shimo-takaido neighborhood. Around the station there's the Akatsutsumi shopping street, as well as a supermarket.
The station is named Matsubara, but it actually sits right on the border with Akatsutsumi; aside from Matsubara 4-chome where the station itself is located, the rest of this neighborhood is all Akatsutsumi 1- to 3-chome.
Greenery ranks 14th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, the top-ranked item for this neighborhood. Judging from our street photos, buildings also rank 36th. At the southern end of Akatsutsumi there's also a green walkway made by covering over the Kitazawa River.
No matter how many stops you ride, the Setagaya Line costs 160 yen after the 2023 fare revision, and riding end to end takes 17 to 18 minutes. The two neighboring stations each connect to a different line: at Shimo-takaido you transfer to the Keio Line, from Yamashita you can walk to Odakyu's Gotokuji Station; further along, at Sangenjaya you transfer to the Denentoshi Line.
Daily shopping ranks 231st; healthcare ranks 256th, the weakest item for this neighborhood. Public transit ranks 158th, with both neighboring stations just 0.8 km away.
Drainage is relatively poor in some parts of Akatsutsumi, and inland flooding has occurred there during past torrential downpours. Setagaya City's "Matsubara" area is much larger, and both Meidaimae and Higashi-Matsubara stations also fall within Matsubara.
The name Akatsutsumi first appears in a document from November 1584, written as "Akatsutsumi-mura Saifukuji". The place name is generally believed to come from a reddish-clay highland at the bend where the Kitazawa River's main stream and tributary turn east, on which there was once a defensive earthen rampart; which era that dates from is not settled.
The predecessor of the Setagaya Line was the Tamagawa Electric Railway's Shimo-takaido Line, which reached Shimo-takaido in May 1925. In 1949, two small stations here were merged into Tamaden Matsubara Station. In 1969 the Tamagawa Line was abolished, this line was renamed the Setagaya Line, and the station was also renamed Matsubara Station.
The Keio Line that you transfer to at the next station, Shimo-takaido, lies outside this neighborhood; the roughly 7.2 km stretch from Sasazuka to Sengawa is being converted to elevated track, eliminating 25 level crossings. The project period runs through March 2031.
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.