Tokyo's Sakurazaka slopes

From: Chasing the cherry blossoms across spring Japan

A Sakurazaka marker post telling the name's origin

On the slope I walked in Akasaka and Roppongi, the marker post says the road was laid in the mid-Meiji era and named for a large cherry tree that stood at its foot until the war. Roppongi Sakurazaka, a 400-meter slope, was created in March 2003 in the redevelopment around TV Asahi. Den-en-chofu's Sakurazaka in Ota Ward was already known for its cherry blossoms, and became famous nationwide as the inspiration for Masaharu Fukuyama's hit song "Sakurazaka." A red bridge known as Sakurabashi spans the top of the slope; the nearest station is Numabe on the Tokyu Tamagawa Line.

Sources: tabi-mag.jp matcha-jp.com

This moment in the journey

Sakurazaka in Akasaka and Roppongi

Next, a tour of Sakurazaka, the "cherry blossom slopes." There are said to be three of them in Tokyo.

First, Akasaka and Roppongi. A street climbing between office buildings had become a tunnel of blossoms. According to the marker post, the road was laid in the mid-Meiji era, and took its name from a large cherry tree that stood at the bottom of the slope until the war.

Past a pedestrian bridge, a row of cherry trees ran along a glass-walled tower. An urban oasis, a little removed from the bustle of the city.

Watch this scene on YouTube2:39

Read this scene in the full journey