---
title: Tsukishima and Tsukuda
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/tsukishima-and-tsukuda/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/tokyo-nagaya/
---

# Tsukishima and Tsukuda

A little of each town’s story　/　Chuo, Tokyo

Tsukuda was built as a fishing village by fishermen from Tsukuda in Settsu Province, brought to Edo by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is the birthplace of tsukudani. Tsukishima was created in 1892 by reclaiming land from Tokyo Bay, and was at first called Tsukishima, "built island." Row houses went up along the alleys laid out in the rebuilding after the 1923 earthquake, and the area escaped the wartime fires, so its prewar streetscape survives. Tsukishima Nishinaka-dori is known as Monja Street.

## This moment in the journey: Morning in the shitamachi

This is Tokyo's shitamachi, the old town on the east side of the Yamanote Line. Small boats sat moored in a basin backed by high-rise apartments. Beyond a stone torii stood the hall of Sumiyoshi Shrine, and the alleys were lined with rusted mailboxes, potted plants and bicycles.

Many corners here escaped the wartime fires, and you can still feel the culture and air of those days. At the end of a narrow alley, a red torii caught the morning sun.

![A narrow alley lined with bicycles and potted plants](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/tokyo-nagaya/s16-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.mec-h.com/town/mh-harumi/11
- Sources: https://www.city.chuo.lg.jp/a0052/bunkakankou/bunka/kyodoshiryokan/kindai_kentikubutu_tyousa/kindai103.html
- Sources: https://yomuno.jp/posts/21619

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/tokyo-nagaya/