Takadanobaba
Takadanobaba
Station is
located in the Takadanobaba area
of Shinjuku Ward of Tokyo. Situated
between the commercial districts
of Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, the station
is one of the busiest in the Tokyo
transport network and serves as
a linking hub between Seibu Shinjuku
Line and the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line
with the JR Yamanote Line.
Takadanobaba
,
often referred to simply as “Baba”,
was previously known as Takatanobaba.
The area was first built in 1636
as a baba , or a place
for horseback riding and horse racing
by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu;
Takata was the
name of Matsudaira Tadateru's (
the sixth
son of Iemitsu's grandfather) mother.
Hence the name Takadanobaba (or
Takatanobaba). Throughout the Edo
period, Takadanobaba remained a
riding ground.
Today
Takadanobaba, or simply Baba, is
known as a students' quarter. Due
to its proximity to Waseda University,
Gakushuin University, and several
other vocational and training schools,
the neighborhood has several bookstores,
cheap bars, and izakayas .
Every evening the streets around
the station become crowded with
students frequenting the stores,
bars, and izkayas , or
just hanging around. Several foreigners
are also seen in the area because
of the New York-style Ben's Café,
the English language bookstore The
Blue Parrot, Mickey House, and the
English pub The Fiddler. The symbol
of Takadanobaba is Big Box, the
imposing building right next to
the station, which houses a sports
gym, some cheap clothing stores,
a bookstore, a 100-yen shop and
a fast food restaurant.
Takadanobaba
is also home to the famous Astro
Boy, the fictional character created
by Osamu Tezuka. To commemorate
this, Takadanobaba Station plays
the theme music of the television
series on the JR Yamanote platform
to signal that a train is about
to leave. Many lamp posts in the
area also carry pictures of Astro
Boy.
The
area also has several small temples
and shrines. Among
them are
Mizuinari Shrine, Anahachiman Shrine,
Raiko Temple, Seigan Temple, and
Suwa Shrine which is said to have
spring water flowing from it. There
are also various decent cost apartments
and guesthouses in Takadanobaba.
