Red-brick buildings of Rikkyo University, next door to the house where Edogawa Ranpo lived for 31 years
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
This neighborhood is home to Rikkyo University; the Main Building is a red-brick building completed in 1918.
At Christmas, the two roughly 25-meter-tall Himalayan cedars in front of the Main Building are strung with lights, a tradition that started around 1949.
The mystery novelist Edogawa Ranpo moved house 46 times in his life, finally living for 31 years in a house next door to Rikkyo until his death in 1965. He initially rented this house for 90 yen a month, and later bought it and added an extension.
The Main Building's clock tower still needs its weights pulled by hand every 3 to 4 days, even now. In December 2025, the school held an open day under the Christmas lights, aimed mainly at nearby residents, with free admission.
Ranpo's former residence is now managed by Rikkyo University and is open free of charge every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There's greenery on the streets outside campus too: based on our street photos, this neighborhood ranks 136th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo for greenery, just at the tail end of the upper tier.
For everyday shopping, this neighborhood ranks 149th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, landing in the middle. In 2020, about 230 people lived per hectare in this neighborhood. Kanamecho 1-chome is the intersection where Kaname-dori and Yamate-dori meet, with the Shuto Expressway running overhead along Yamate-dori.
In 1918, Rikkyo moved from Tsukiji to Ikebukuro, and the Main Building was completed the same year. By the early Showa era, many young artists had gathered in the area stretching from Nishi-Ikebukuro to Shiinamachi (outside this neighborhood), and this cluster of studios came to be called "Ikebukuro Montparnasse." Toward Yamate-dori, traces of single-story studio bungalows still remain.
Ranpo moved in next door to Rikkyo in 1934, and the two-story earthen storehouse (dozo) became his library; the air raid of April 1945 didn't burn this house down either. In 2002, the house, the storehouse, and about 20,000 books in his collection were handed over to Rikkyo University; the storehouse is now designated a tangible cultural property by Toshima City.
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.