West Tokyo · KichijojiNo.864★★Open in map →

Inokashira Park

natureOff the trail — and worth it

A spring-fed pond in a shallow valley below Kichijoji, and the source of the Kanda River. Boats, a shrine on an island, a small zoo and a wooded rise share one park that western Tokyo treats as its back garden.

FromShinjuku Station
~20 minJR train, every few min
Get off atKichijoji Station (JR Chuo Line and Keio Inokashira Line)
On foot
Inokashira Park

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Inokashira is not hidden. It is the park everyone in Kichijoji uses, and cherry blossom weekends pack the pond edge solid. What changes it is direction and hour: the wooded rise and the western half stay quiet even when the water does not, and a weekday morning gives the pond back.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Inokashira Pond boatsYoshikazu TAKADA / CC BY 2.0

Inokashira Ponda long, narrow spring-fed pond filling the low ground at the centre of the park
Nanaibashi bridgea low wooden bridge straight across the middle of the water, the standard vantage point
The boat dockrowing boats and swan pedal boats for hire from the pond's northern shore
Inokashira Benzaitena vermilion hall on the island at the pond's western end, dedicated to the water deity
Inokashira Park Zooa small municipal zoo in the western half, with a separate aquatic garden beside the water

How to actually get there

Shinjuku Station → Kichijoji Station (JR Chuo Line Rapid, about 15 min).
Kichijoji Station south exit → the park's north edge (walk about 5 min downhill).
Walk down to Inokashira Pond and cross Nanaibashi, the bridge over the middle of the water.
Follow the shore west to the Benzaiten hall, then on to the zoo if you have time.

JR Chuo Line, direct from Shinjuku: Shinjuku Station → Kichijoji Station on the JR Chuo Line Rapid, about 15 minutes. Leave by the south (park) exit and walk about 5 minutes downhill to the park's north edge; the pond lies a little further in. Rapid trains run every few minutes through the day.
Return from Kichijoji Station: Walk back up to Kichijoji Station and take the JR Chuo Line east to Shinjuku and Tokyo. Services are frequent until late. The Keio Inokashira Line leaves from the same building and gives a second way out, toward Shibuya.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Inokashira Park fills a shallow valley at the western edge of Tokyo, a few minutes downhill from Kichijoji. Its centre is a long, spring-fed pond, and the Kanda River leaves from the pond's southeastern corner to run east across the city. The ground is not flat. The pond lies low, the wooded rise of Gotenyama stands above it, and sports grounds and a zoo occupy the western half. This is a neighbourhood park rather than a designed garden, so the paths belong to joggers, buskers and people who have simply come outside.

How to enjoy it

On a weekday morning the pond belongs to herons, rowers and dog walkers; by a weekend afternoon the bridge is a slow-moving queue. Take a boat out if the water is still, because the view back at the Benzaiten hall from the surface is the one the paths cannot give you. Cherry blossom season is spectacular and crowded in equal measure, and the autumn colour does nearly as well with a fraction of the people.

Background & history

The park opened in 1917 on land granted by the imperial household, which is what the word onshi in its Japanese name records. At the time the site lay outside the built-up city and was described as a suburban park; the housing reached it later. The spring itself had mattered long before that, as a source of clean water for Edo, and the Benzaiten hall on the island marks the older reverence for it. The zoo in the western half came in the decades that followed.

Before you go

Cash: The park is open at all hours and free to enter. The boats on the pond and the zoo inside the park each charge separately, and both keep daytime hours.
Good to know: Paths around the water are unlit in places after dark, and the boat dock closes well before the park does. Cherry blossom season fills the whole pond edge, so this is the park's busiest fortnight of the year.
Another way: From Shibuya, the Keio Inokashira Line runs to Kichijoji. Get off one stop earlier at Inokashira-koen Station and a park entrance is right outside the ticket gate.
After you get off: From Kichijoji Station's south exit, follow the shopping lane straight ahead. The ground drops away and the park opens below after about five minutes.