Otsuka, where the Toden Arakawa Line runs through and neighbours tend the roses along the tracks together
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
The Toden Arakawa Line streetcar runs through this stretch of Minami-Otsuka, and about 1,200 rose bushes have been planted along the tracks. Local volunteers take care of them, coming out on the third Sunday of every month since 2010 to plant flowers, weed, and deadhead.
The rose festival is held twice a year, in spring and autumn; the spring one opens at the south exit of Otsuka Station, and students from the City-run Nishi-Sugamo Junior High School take part too. The Toden platform sits right under the Yamanote Line viaduct, and you can walk to it from either the south or north exit.
About 67% of the people living here in 2020 were single-person households. Those aged 20 to 34 made up about 29%, higher than Toshima City as a whole; six in ten homes are privately rented.
Daily shopping ranks 27th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, the highest ranking of this neighborhood's categories; healthcare ranks 32nd, also near the top. Business is especially lively around Miyanaka Park-dori and the Otsuka Ginnosuzu shopping street near the north exit, while the south exit has a mix of shops and homes.
JR built a station building at the south exit in 2013, with the Atre Vie Otsuka shopping mall on the lower floors. There are also Toei buses in front of the station, running to Ueno Park and the east exit of Ikebukuro.
From our street photos, cleanliness ranks 343rd out of 395 neighborhoods, the weakest category for this neighborhood; sidewalks rank 269th, also near the bottom. In 2020, about 297 people lived per hectare in this neighborhood.
In 1903, Otsuka Station opened as a station on the Yamanote Line. This area originally belonged to Sugamo Village, and only came to be called Otsuka after the station took that name.
In 1911, the Oji Electric Railway, which later became part of the Toden Arakawa Line, reached Otsuka. Before the war, the center of the area north of the city was Otsuka, not Ikebukuro; there was a department store in front of the station, and also a geisha district. The Toden still passes by Otsuka Station today because of that history.
In 1969, the town names were officially changed to Kita-Otsuka and Minami-Otsuka. The City-run Nishi-Sugamo Junior High School in Minami-Otsuka 3-chome keeps the old place name Nishi-Sugamo in its name. Today's rose-lined stretch began when residents and shopping streets, while tackling litter and illegally parked bicycles along the Toden tracks, found about 100 rose bushes that had been planted there before.
Redevelopment is planned next to Tenso Shrine by the south exit, to build a residential and retail building with 41 floors above ground and a height cap of about 160 meters. The City's planned schedule is to decide on the city plan in fiscal year 2026, break ground in fiscal year 2029, and complete construction in fiscal year 2032.
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.
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How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
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