Visit Japan Web Jiyugaoka
Visit Japan Web invites you to explore Jiyugaoka, a fashionable residential district. It is a complex network of narrow streets with a European atmosphere. There are multiple chic cafes, bakeries and fashion and interior shops. If you grow weary of shopping, take a trip on the Tokyu-Oimachi Line to the nearby Todoroki Ravine Park. It is a serene green sanctuary featuring a temple, waterfall, meandering river and a striking red arched bridge.
Before 1932, the name “Jiyugaoka” did not exist. At that time, the area belonged to the Machida Village in Ebara County, Tokyo Prefecture. In 1927, the Japanese educator Tsuguhisa Okabe established the Jiyugaoka Gakuen with the aim of promoting liberalist ideals. In 1932, with the expansion of Tokyo’s geographical area, Meguro Ward was established, affording an opportunity for the region to be renamed “Jiyugaoka”. Jiyugaoka originally preserved numerous bamboo groves. But in the 1970s, with the development of the Tokyu Toyoko Line, a large number of bamboo groves were felled. Presently, remnants of these bamboo groves can only be found at the Kumano Shrine in Jiyugaoka. Jiyugaoka is one of the most desirable places to live in some surveys conducted accoding to magazines in the Tokyo area. It has the perfect residential area, picturesque surroundings, convenient transportation and comprehensive commercial facilities,
At the front of Jiyugaoka Station stands a roundabout with a goddess statue named “Aozora”. Every October, the local area hosts the “Jiyugaoka Goddess Festival”. In recent years, traffic congestion has begun to appear around Jiyugaoka Station. Issues such as narrow main roads, roadside parking and traffic congestion have emerged. The government had plans to widen the roads around the station, but faced strong opposition from local shopping streets.
