Shirokane: A Microcosm Shaped by the Terrain - Dive in Tokyo

Welcome to Shirokane, one of Tokyo's most upscale residential neighborhoods. It's known for its calm and quiet atmosphere. But explore the town from end to end and you'll discover there's much more to it. Small factories where skilled craftspeople ply their trade. A natural forest that seems to stretch on and on. Lavish mansions and hundred-year-old wooden row houses. Boasting a blend of distinctive landscapes, Shirokane is a microcosm of Tokyo's rich diversity. It's all thanks to the area's unique history, which left it relatively untouched by major development up through the present day. I've been Tokyo. Today we unravel the story of Shirokane. Shirokane is located on the south side of the Yamanote loop line, which runs around the city center. It sits at the edge of the Musashino Plateau, which extends from western Tokyo toward Tokyo Bay. One of its defining features is that it's divided into an upland area and a lowland area that continues down to the bay. Hi, I'm Benjamin Boas and I'm standing in the center of Shirokane. It's a beautiful part of Tokyo. Let's go check it out. We start our day with a stroll through the upland area. This is Platinum Street in the heart of town. Lined with ginkgo trees and home to many boutiques and restaurants, it's a popular spot for relaxed shopping and dining. Just off the strip is one of Tokyo's best-known high-end residential districts. And look at this wall. It's huge. It's like I'm walking next to a castle or something. Until the arrival of the subway in 2000, Shirokane had no local train station. With little traffic from outside, this has long been a haven for wealthy residents away from the hustle and bustle. On the west edge of town is an oasis of calm beloved by the community. Wow, it looks like a totally different world in there. Look at all this green. This is the Institute for Nature Study, a green space associated with the National Museum of Nature and Science. It's a roughly 200,000 square meter forest preserve managed by an independent administrative organization and is meant to provide a place in the city center where people can enjoy nature and learn about plants. It feels like I'm out in the wilderness right now. Some people who live in Tokyo like to get out and see nature, but they don't have to leave Tokyo. They can just come here. Wow, look, you can even see turtles sunning themselves on that log. Wow, it's it's like something out of a movie. And if you look close, you can see there's there's the whole place is alive. There's bugs on the water. There's there's birds shaking the trees in the background. There's there's life everywhere here. The preserve is home to ponds and wetlands that provide habitats for a variety of wildlife. Thanks to the Musashino Plateau's rich supply of groundwater, local springs continue to flow to this day. This park opened in 1949. How were they able to preserve such a vast forest in the center of Tokyo? The story is rooted in the very origins of Shirokane itself. Around 1400, a powerful family that had made its fortune in silver built a fortified mansion here and developed the area. It's said that the town got its name from the fact that silver was traditionally called shirokane in Japanese. Fast forward to the Edo period in the 17th century, when the Shirokane upland area underwent a major transformation. The catalyst was the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, which burned down most of the capital. The shogunate relocated feudal lords from the densely populated neighborhoods by Edo Castle to the outskirts, which included Shirokane, then mostly farmland. Favored for its solid ground and scenic ocean views from the highland, the area became home to many feudal estates. Even the ruins of the Shirokane Choja mansion were converted into a villa. When the samurai era ended, this land was used by the new government's forces to store gunpowder. Later, it became state property. In the late 19th century, many of the former feudal estates in Shirokane's upland area became home to politicians and business leaders. The upscale residences that stand today are remnants of that time. In the first half of the 20th century, the sites of former estates were also used for the construction of public institutions, schools, and other large-scale facilities, many of which still remain. One particularly historic Shirokane landmark is the main building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. It was built in 1933 as an imperial residence. The interior is in art deco style, which originated in France and had become all the rage worldwide. One of the defining features is the decorative use of curves and straight lines. Because the building is so well-preserved, it's even been studied by researchers from France. Architecture like this is one of Shirokane's charms. I always have the feeling that I want to be a part of the local characteristics. If I can play that role, I would be very happy. There's another place in town that still strongly evokes its past as a feudal mansion. Wow, look at this place! What an amazing garden! These grounds are home to one of Tokyo's premier banquet halls, known for hosting many celebrity weddings. Most of the land is occupied by a Japanese garden that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Designed in the traditional style, the garden features trees, stone pagodas, and more. Arranged so visitors can enjoy beautiful views from every angle as they stroll around the pond. These stairs are so steep! You know, I've been to a lot of Japanese gardens, but I don't think I've ever seen something like this before where you look all the way up. It's pretty cool! The dynamic scenery along the hillside gives this green space its unique charm. The garden is a local treasure shaped by Shirokane's topography, open to the public free of charge. This is the edge of the Musashino land. Up ahead is the sea, the Shinagawa Sea. It's located right at the edge of the land. It's the edge of the Musashino Kyuryu, which is why this hill is called the Onji Suribachi Shiki. This shape hasn't changed since the Edo period, over 400 years ago. That's amazing! The Ritsui upland area that we've been exploring so far sits about 30 meters above sea level. We head past the neighborhood to the north side of town, where we come across a slope with an elevation difference of about 20 meters. Wow, there's quite a slope here. It's a very long way. As we descend, the townscape changes dramatically. Wow, what is this? This looks like it could be 100 years old. It looks like a garage, but there's a dead end there. It's totally different from the top of the hill. I just feel like I'm surrounded by buildings. It's even hard to see which way to go. The north side of Shirokane is a densely populated residential area. There's a network of alleys too narrow for cars to enter. Sato Nobuhiro is chair of a local merchant's association. He's Shirokane born and raised. It's a town with a rural feel to it that's a bit different from what you're used to seeing. Looking at the old map, you can see that it's surrounded by radio waves. If you just walk here, you won't think you're in a port town. That's true. This area has been a part of the Showa era for a long time. That's true. Look at this. It's an old man's house. Is that a hair salon? Yes, there's a hair salon over there. I've never seen such a small pool before. But it's so densely populated. While the upland area was lined with feudal mansions by the mid-17th century, the lowlands remained farmland up until the early 20th century. Sato takes us to a place that can tell us how this townscape came to be. This small workshop is run by two brothers. They handcraft bugles out of brass. Elder brother Nagano Kenji has been doing this for 60 years. He's widely known among experts as a leader in his craft. Bugles are signal instruments that traditionally have no valves. Because they produce a high-pitched sound that carries far, they tend to be used for communicating more than they are for playing music. The brothers say not bad for his first time. Along the northern edge of Shirokane is the Furukawa River, which runs from Shibuya down to Tokyo Bay. Once a busy transport route, small factories began to spring up along it around 100 years ago. In the early 20th century, the Keihin Industrial Zone was established along the coast of Tokyo Bay, which includes Shinagawa. just a short distance from Shirokane. The region drove the industrialization of modern Japan. Around the same time, workshops began to pop up in neighboring areas to supply machine parts to the giant factories. They played a vital role in supporting the growth of the manufacturing industry behind the scenes. Shirokane also welcomed printing workshops, food processing plants, and more. In the 1970s, amid Japan's economic miracle, the area was home to over 500 small-scale factories. As employee housing sprang up along local streets, the lowlands became the densely populated residential neighborhood it is today. Since then, many local workshops have relocated to bayside industrial parks. But a handful continue to manufacture products in Shirokane. Along one of the main streets in Shirokane's lowland area is a shopping district that supported the lives of local factory workers. Even today, there are about 60 businesses, from restaurants to general stores. Sato, who heads the local merchant association, also runs a hardware store. The business was started by his grandfather exactly 100 years ago. They pride themselves on carpentry tools custom-made by expert craftspeople. In addition to Sato's store, this shopping street is home to a number of other 100-year-old businesses and many historic buildings that have likewise stood for over a century. This wooden building is a Nagaya row house. Nagaya architecture emerged in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake as a way to build housing quickly and cheaply. Structures are made up of multiple living units side by side under a single continuous roof. These buildings are examples of signboard architecture, another style that emerged during post-earthquake reconstruction. At first glance, they appear to be made of concrete, but these are actually wooden structures. They're characterized by decorative facades clad with non-combustible materials such as copper and tile to enhance fire resistance. The style became popular among merchants looking to open small shops in urban areas. Today, some people visit Shirakane just to see these buildings. We step into a liquor store that's been in business for four generations. I run a family business and run a nearby restaurant. People who have lived here for a long time are mostly from the same elementary school. Hoshino-san's father, my father, Hoshino-san, and I are Hoshino-san's sons. We're all from the same elementary school. So everyone has a strong sense of camaraderie. Along the shopping street is a Shirakane institution with a long-standing relationship with old local businesses. This is the Kitasato Institute, a medical complex that combines a hospital, a university, and research facilities. He's been here for a long time When the institute opened in 1914, Shirakane was still mostly fields. Founder Kitasato Shibasaburo was a bacteriologist who made landmark contributions to the study of infectious diseases such as tetanus and the plague. A museum dedicated to his legacy has become one of the shopping street's popular attractions. In 2015, the institute's Dr. Omura Satoshi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work developing a highly effective treatment against parasitic diseases. Dr. Omura comes to my shop from time to time, but recently he bought me a driver. When Dr. Omura won the award, Satoshi and his colleagues treated the community to a cask of sake to celebrate. I used the space in front of the pharmacy but there were too many people In a few years, this shopping street is set to undergo a major construction project to widen the road. Many buildings are slated to be demolished, and the townscape will likely change dramatically. This is a hometown for children, so I hope people will come here and develop their love for their hometown. I hope people will come to Shirogane and feel like they're in the countryside I hope people will come here and make history. But what the whole neighborhood has in common are people and institutions who have inherited something special from the past and are working so hard to pass it on to future generations. I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for Shirogane.