Samezu, where Tokyoites come to take their driving test, with a Taisho-era building still brewing Sendai miso
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
East of Samezu Station is the driver's license testing center, and in Tokyo, when people mention Samezu, this is what most of them think of first. In front of the west exit is the busy Daiichi-Keihin road with constant traffic; cross the road and head up the slope to the small hill once called Tosayama. In Higashi-oi 4-chome there is also a Sendai miso brewery, where miso is still brewed today in a Taisho-era building.
Compared with the neighboring Aomono-yokocho Station, the atmosphere here is relaxed; around the station and along the old Tokaido there are only scattered shops here and there, and overall it's quiet. West of the station are newer apartment buildings.
Besides the warehouses along the canal and the commercial area around Oimachi Station, most of Higashi-oi is residential land.
Public transit ranks 69th, the highest-ranking category for this neighborhood. Samezu Station only stops Keikyu Local trains; Aomono-yokocho Station, 0.5 km away, is served by both Limited Express and Express trains.
About 10 more minutes' walk up from the slope brings you to Oimachi Station, outside the neighborhood, where JR, the Rinkai Line, and the Tokyu Oimachi Line all stop.
1-chome has Samezu Park, 3-chome has Higashi-oi Park, and 4-chome has Oi Park. Next to Oi Park is the grave of the late-Edo-period domain lord Yamauchi Yodo, a Shinagawa City historic site that is open to visitors during the day.
Although the Rinkai Line passes underground nearby, there is no transfer station connecting it with Keikyu.
Judging from our street photos, cleanliness ranks 382nd, the lowest-ranking category for this neighborhood. Daily shopping ranks 250th and healthcare ranks 243rd, both in the lower-middle range.
There's a legend behind the place name Samezu: it's said that in the third year of Kencho (1251), a large dead shark drifted in from the sea off Shinagawa, and inside its belly was a wooden carving of Kannon. People enshrined the Kannon and called this place Samezu, and this is also said to be the origin of Kaian-ji Temple in Minami-Shinagawa, outside the neighborhood. There's also a theory that the character for "shark" (same) was just borrowed for its sound and has nothing to do with fish.
In the Edo period this was a fishing village, and it's said that nori seaweed was also cultivated here. The Sendai domain brewed Sendai miso in its lower residence (shimo-yashiki) in this area for domain samurai living in Edo, and today's brewery traces back to that.
Samezu Station opened in 1904. From 1932 this area was called Oi-Samezu-cho; after the implementation of the residential address system (jukyo hyoji) in the 1960s, it was merged into Higashi-oi, and Samezu disappeared from the address. The name survives in the station name, and in 2020 the station added the driver's license testing center as a subname.
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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