Student street of Waseda University, where Soseki was born, with his study recreated at the memorial museum
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
Waseda University is within the neighborhood. Used bookshops run from Waseda along Waseda-dori all the way to Takadanobaba outside the neighborhood, forming Tokyo's used bookshop street second only to Jimbocho.
Back at the station, head out the west exit and walk a short way up Natsume-zaka; on your left stands a stone marker for "Birthplace of Natsume Soseki". Soseki was born here in 1867, at what is now Kikuicho.
The west side of the slope has many temples and cemeteries; at night and on holidays, the whole slope is relatively quiet. At the other end, Waseda Tsurumakicho used to have many student dormitories, but now it's mostly housing.
For daily shopping, this neighborhood ranks 43rd out of 395 neighborhoods in Tokyo; you rarely need to leave the neighborhood to buy groceries. Besides the Tozai Line, there's also the Waseda stop, the terminus of the Toden Arakawa Line. The two stations are about 600 meters apart in a straight line, and they're not considered a transfer station.
Waseda Minamicho, where Soseki lived in his later years, now has part of its original site occupied by the City-run Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum, where the 1F recreates his study.
In 2020, about 209 people lived per hectare in this neighborhood. During the day, Natsume-zaka is a shortcut with heavy traffic. During summer and spring breaks, foot traffic varies a lot; some restaurants only open during the school term.
Healthcare is the lowest-ranked category for this neighborhood, ranking 103rd. The City-run Ushigome Health Center will open in a new building in Bentencho from November 2025, offering health consultations and checkups.
This area used to be mostly paddy fields. Natsume-zaka was named by Soseki's father using their family name, since the Natsume family lived on the slope.
In 1882, Okuma Shigenobu founded Tokyo Semmon Gakko, which later became Waseda University. After the school opened, the paddy fields gradually turned into a student district; Ibuse Masuji wrote about his student days in Tsurumakicho in his book Ushigome Tsurumakicho.
The City-run children's center in Waseda Minamicho, built in fiscal 1972, will move to a new building in the same town, expected to open in fiscal 2032. The after-school program had 111 children registered in 2022, about three times its capacity.
The old site is planned to be converted into group homes for people with disabilities and seniors with dementia, expected to open in fiscal 2035.
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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