Hillside residential area from "Whisper of the Heart", with Shinjuku's towers visible on clear days
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
In 1995, Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart used the residential area of Sakuragaoka south of the station as its setting. The north side of this residential area sits on high ground, and on clear days you can see the high-rises of Shinjuku.
The slope the heroine walks up from the station to the library is modeled on Iroha-zaka, a very steep zigzag slope. The Sakura-dori street leading from the station to the slope is lined with cherry trees on both sides.
When the train pulls into the station, the platform plays a music-box version of "Country Road," the movie's theme song. In front of the station there's also the Seishun Post, a postbox modeled on Chikyuya, the antique shop from the movie, where you can write down your dreams and drop them in.
Sakuragaoka is a residential area developed by Keio in the 1960s, with an average lot size of about 330 square meters. The district plan also stipulates that a lot cannot be subdivided smaller than 165 square meters.
In early April there's a cherry blossom festival around the station; in early July, the Asagao-ichi morning glory fair displays a thousand pots of morning glories grown by local farmers. Ono Shrine in Ichinomiya claims to be the ichinomiya — the highest-ranked shrine in a province — of Musashi Province, and that's also where the place name comes from.
Seiseki-Sakuragaoka is a Special Express stop on the Keio Line. According to our street photos, greenery ranks 204th out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo, only mid-table, but it's already the best of the seven categories in this neighborhood.
Everyday shopping ranks 387th out of 395 neighborhoods, the weakest of the seven categories in this neighborhood; healthcare ranks 353rd, also toward the bottom. Public transit ranks 315th, sidewalks rank 351st. Iroha-zaka is a very steep zigzag slope on the road leading to the station.
One theory holds that the place name Sekido comes from a checkpoint called Kasumi-no-seki that the Kamakura shogunate set up here around 1213. The station opened in 1925 as Sekido Station, and was renamed to its current name in 1937.
In the station name, "Sakuragaoka" comes from the area being known for cherry blossom viewing, while "Seiseki" refers to Emperor Meiji having hunted at nearby Renkoji. Construction of the Sakuragaoka residential area began in 1960, and lots started going on sale in batches in the early 1960s.
In 1986, the Keio Shopping Center around the station opened, and in 1988 the Keio Group companies moved their headquarters here from Shinjuku. In 2012, the Seishun Post in front of the station was completed, and the platform's arrival jingle was also changed to the movie's theme song.
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.
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