- Japanese name:<\/strong> \u5de3\u9d28<\/li>
- Municipality:<\/strong> Toshima City, Tokyo<\/li>
- Main stations:<\/strong> Sugamo, Koshinzuka, Shin-koshinzuka and Nishi-sugamo<\/li>
- Historic route:<\/strong> the former Nakasendo highway<\/li>
- Best-known site:<\/strong> Koganji Temple and its Togenuki Jizo tradition<\/li>
- Modern nickname:<\/strong> \u201cGrandma\u2019s Harajuku\u201d<\/li>
- Important distinction:<\/strong> Sugamo was a roadside settlement and rest area, not an official Nakasendo post town<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Why Sugamo Became What It Is Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sugamo\u2019s identity was produced by five systems that reinforced one another: the old highway, roadside faith, recurring temple fairs, metropolitan transport and merchant adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nakasendo created a linear stream of travelers. Religious sites encouraged those travelers to pause. Koganji later generated repeat visits on regular fair days. Trains and trams turned pilgrimage into an easy journey from across Tokyo. Merchants observed what visitors wanted and specialized in practical goods, familiar foods and personal service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result was not simply a neighborhood with many older residents. It became a destination designed around the habits of older visitors: walking slowly, browsing small shops, talking with sellers, eating inexpensive food and combining shopping with prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Old Highway beneath Jizo-dori<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Nakasendo was one of the five major highways organized under the Tokugawa shogunate. It began at Nihonbashi and ran northwest through Itabashi before crossing the mountains toward Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sugamo lay before Itabashi-juku, the first official post station on the route. It was not itself a regulated post town. Instead, it developed as a roadside settlement with tateba<\/em>\u2014places where travelers could rest, eat and prepare for the next stage of the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This explains the shape of Jizo-dori today. Commerce follows a long line because customers once moved along a long line. Shops, tea houses, religious markers and later fair stalls all benefited from the steady flow of people on the highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Keisai](\"https:\/\/yuru-rekishi-sanpo.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/kisokaido01_itabashi.jpg\")
Itabashi on the Kiso Kaido, by Keisai Eisen, 1830s. The print shows the official post town beyond Sugamo. Via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Roadside Religion before Togenuki Jizo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Religious landmarks shaped the road before Koganji arrived. Near the southern end of Jizo-dori, Shinsho-ji preserves one of the Edo Six Jizo, a group of large bronze statues placed on important approaches to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statue marked both movement and boundary. Travelers leaving Edo passed a protective Buddhist figure before continuing toward Itabashi and the interior. At the northern end of the district, Koshinzuka preserved another kind of roadside devotion associated with Koshin belief, communal vigils and stone monuments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Bronze](\"https:\/\/yuru-rekishi-sanpo.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sugamo_jizo_statue.jpg\")
The Edo Six Jizo at Shinsho-ji Temple in 2020. Photo by Cloud Consciousness, via Wikimedia Commons. CC0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Koganji Moves to Sugamo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Koganji did not originate in Sugamo. The temple was founded in 1596 near Kanda Myojin, moved after the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 and eventually relocated to Sugamo in 1891.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The temple was already associated with the Togenuki Jizo tradition. According to temple history, devotional paper images became connected with healing after a woman swallowed one and later coughed up a needle that had been troubling her. The name togenuki<\/em> means \u201cthorn-removing\u201d or \u201csplinter-removing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After moving to Sugamo, the temple and street vendors promoted recurring ennichi<\/em>, or fair days. These events transformed religious devotion into a regular commercial rhythm. Worshippers came on predictable dates, stalls gathered around them, and permanent shops learned to serve the same crowds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Main](\"https:\/\/yuru-rekishi-sanpo.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/kouganji-3.jpg\")
Koganji Temple in 2011. Photo by \u6c5f\u6238\u6751\u306e\u3068\u304f\u305e\u3046, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Togenuki Jizo and Arai Kannon Are Not the Same<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Several devotional objects at Koganji are often confused. The principal Togenuki Jizo is a hidden sacred image. Worshippers also receive small paper impressions called omikage<\/em>, which are connected with the temple\u2019s healing tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Arai Kannon is a separate statue. Visitors wash the part of the statue corresponding to the part of their own body they hope to heal. The current statue was installed in 1992 after the earlier one became heavily worn through repeated washing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Arai](\"https:\/\/yuru-rekishi-sanpo.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/togenukijizo_araikannon.jpg\")
The Arai Kannon at Koganji Temple in 2009. Photo by Muramasa, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Railways Turn Pilgrimage into a Day Trip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sugamo Station opened in 1903 on the line that became today\u2019s Yamanote Line. Tram service followed, and Koshinzuka remains a stop on the surviving Toden Arakawa Line, now branded as the Tokyo Sakura Tram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modern transport changed the scale of pilgrimage. Visitors no longer needed to approach Sugamo on foot along the highway. They could arrive from across Tokyo, leave the station and continue slowly along the old road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This transfer between fast and slow movement remains central to the neighborhood. The railway delivers crowds quickly; Jizo-dori then encourages them to walk, stop, browse and talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
War Damage and Postwar Rebuilding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Air raids in 1945 destroyed Koganji\u2019s buildings and damaged the surrounding district. A temporary hall was built in 1946, and the present main hall was completed in 1957.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Postwar rebuilding restored more than architecture. Temple fairs resumed, shopping streets reorganized and the neighborhood again served both pilgrims and local residents. Stores selling food, clothing, household necessities and modest gifts fitted the needs of a recovering city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koganji opened a free counseling service in 1959. This connected the temple\u2019s older healing reputation with modern psychological and social support, strengthening Sugamo\u2019s image as a place where visitors could discuss bodily, emotional and practical concerns without embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Older Visitors Felt Comfortable Here<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sugamo\u2019s senior-oriented identity did not appear because merchants made a single marketing decision. It developed gradually through observation and adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Older worshippers already came to Koganji for healing prayers and fair days. Small shops allowed customers to inspect goods closely and speak directly with staff. Merchants increasingly offered comfortable clothing, affordable food, health-related products and familiar everyday items. The street\u2019s compact scale allowed visitors to pause often and combine prayer, eating and shopping in one trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each element reinforced the others. Pilgrimage created a customer base. Merchants adapted to that base. The specialized shops attracted more visitors. Media coverage then made the pattern nationally recognizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How \u201cGrandma\u2019s Harajuku\u201d Became a Brand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Comparisons between Sugamo and youth-oriented Harajuku appeared in the late twentieth century. A prominent 1998 newspaper headline helped popularize the phrase \u201cGrandma\u2019s Harajuku.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nickname worked because overseas and domestic audiences already understood Harajuku as a place where fashion and identity become visible in the street. Sugamo seemed to offer an older generation\u2019s equivalent: a destination where clothing, food, health, faith and sociability formed a distinctive public culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The label is memorable but incomplete. Sugamo remains a residential neighborhood, a religious destination, an old highway district and a shopping street used by several generations. The nickname describes one powerful layer; it does not explain the whole place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sugamo beyond Jizo-dori<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
East of the station, Somei Cemetery and nearby temples create a quieter landscape of larger plots and institutional grounds. The wider Somei area is also closely connected with the horticultural history of the Somei-yoshino cherry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This side of Sugamo should not be treated as an extension of the shopping street. It represents a different historical pattern shaped by nurseries, burial grounds and relocated temples. Together, the two areas show how modern Sugamo grew from several overlapping landscapes rather than from a single commercial center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What to Look For Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- Jizo-dori:<\/strong> the former Nakasendo route whose long, narrow form still organizes commerce.<\/li>
- Shinsho-ji\u2019s Edo Six Jizo:<\/strong> a roadside guardian distinct from Koganji\u2019s Togenuki Jizo.<\/li>
- Koganji:<\/strong> the pilgrimage center that moved to Sugamo in 1891.<\/li>
- Arai Kannon:<\/strong> the statue visitors wash while praying for physical relief.<\/li>
- Koshinzuka:<\/strong> the northern roadside marker and tram-side threshold.<\/li>
- Tokyo Sakura Tram:<\/strong> a surviving layer of early twentieth-century transport.<\/li>
- Somei Cemetery:<\/strong> part of the quieter temple, cemetery and horticultural landscape east of the station.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- Shinsho-ji\u2019s Edo Six Jizo:<\/strong> a roadside guardian distinct from Koganji\u2019s Togenuki Jizo.<\/li>
- Municipality:<\/strong> Toshima City, Tokyo<\/li>