Near Gotanda Station, a district of office workers by day and neon-lit nightlife after dusk, lie the Ikedayama Kita ruins, the oldest known archaeological site in Shinagawa Ward. Dating to the prehistoric Jomon Period, traces of ancient earthen kitchens from roughly 10,000 years ago have been discovered there.
While it may seem unimaginable amid today¡¯s dense urban sprawl and packed commuter stations, much of the southern Tokyo corridor between Hamamatsucho and Oimachi stations ¡ª now the focus of major redevelopment by JR East Group ¡ª was once low-lying marshland or open sea, with human settlements clustered instead on plateaus and higher ground overlooking the coast.
Today, each station neighborhood along what JR East calls the ¡°Greater Shinagawa Area¡± projects a distinct vibe. Around Hamamatsucho Station, office towers and hotels stand alongside the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden and Zojoji temple beneath the looming presence of Tokyo Tower. Near Tamachi Station, sleek high-rises coexist with student-filled streets surrounding Keio University, interspersed with canals and warehouses.
Farther south, Takanawa Gateway Station ¡ª the newest and most futuristic of the five stations ¡ª sits at the center of an ambitious urban transformation with a cutting-edge museum and sprawling mixed-use complexes. Shinagawa Station, meanwhile, remains a hub for bullet trains, hotels and ceaseless streams of travelers moving between Tokyo and the rest of Japan.
Then there is Oimachi Station, which retains a more down-to-earth atmosphere. Known for its retro drinking alleys lined with standing bars and smoky izakaya (Japanese pubs), the neighborhood still carries traces of the Showa Era (1926-89) amid ongoing station-front redevelopment. The locale also bears darker echoes of the Edo Period (1603-1867): Nearby stood the Suzugamori execution grounds, one of Tokugawa Japan¡¯s major sites of public execution.
To move through the area today is to pass through multiple layers of Tokyo¡¯s history at once. High-rises and redevelopment projects stand atop former fishing villages, post towns, railway yards and ancient settlements.
Takeshi Tomikawa, a curator at the Shinagawa Historical Museum, says the geography of southern Tokyo once looked dramatically different from today. Areas farther inland ¡ª such as present-day Musashi-Koyama ¡ª sit on much older geological formations where archaeological remains dating from the Jomon, Yayoi (200 B.C.-A.D. 250) and Kofun (250-552) periods have been found.
¡°It wasn¡¯t an ocean view like people imagine today,¡± Tomikawa says. ¡°But people could easily live in settlements near coastlines and waterways because they had access to fish and shellfish, while the surrounding wetlands and forests also attracted animals for hunting.¡±
Other ancient remains, however, did not survive modern development. Tomikawa points to the area around Oimachi Tracks, the new mixed-use megacomplex near Oimachi Station, where land was heavily excavated during the Taisho Era (1912-26) after railway factories were relocated from Shimbashi.
¡°The ground level around Oimachi used to be much higher,¡± he says. ¡°When they cut away the plateau to build railway facilities, many archaeological remains were probably destroyed.¡± These likely predated by centuries or even thousands of years the famous Omori Shell Mounds discovered by Edward S. Morse in 1877.
Around 1,000 years ago, the region evolved from scattered settlements into an increasingly important transportation hub. Before the rise of Edo, the political center of Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo, Saitama and parts of Kanagawa prefectures) was located around present-day Fuchu, from which major roads extended outward. Along those roads were relay stations where travelers, horses and goods were exchanged.
The area became even more important during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), when local warrior families aligned themselves with Minamoto no Yoritomo and the emerging samurai government in Kamakura. Tomikawa says the Oi clan and its related families, which controlled parts of present-day Shinagawa, likely held strategic importance because of its position near river mouths and transportation routes tied to Tokyo Bay.
As warrior families developed land and consolidated power, Shinagawa gradually evolved into a port town. Ports at Shinagawa, Asakusa, Kanagawa and Matsuura flourished as maritime trade expanded. Areas around the lower Meguro River and present-day Samezu became key logistics points linking Kamakura and other parts of eastern Japan.
The district transformed again during the Edo Period after Tokugawa Ieyasu established Edo as the nation¡¯s political center. The shogunate developed a network of highways radiating from Nihonbashi, the most famous being the Tokaido linking Edo and Kyoto.
Shinagawa-juku became the first post station outside Nihonbashi and soon developed into a bustling travelers¡¯ town filled with inns, restaurants and teahouses. The district¡¯s seaside location became one of its greatest attractions. Visitors could gaze across the bay toward present-day Chiba while eating fresh fish and locally cultivated nori seaweed.
At the same time, inland areas such as Oi and Ebara remained agricultural villages supplying rice and vegetables to Edo¡¯s growing population. ¡°Without farming villages like Oi and Ebara, Edo couldn¡¯t have functioned,¡± Tomikawa says.
Religious institutions also spread throughout the region as commerce expanded. Temples and shrines became centers of community life. Around Oimachi, the local spiritual center was once Oi Zao Gongen Shrine, formerly located near what is now Oimachi Tracks.
By the late Edo Period, the coastline itself began changing dramatically. Facing foreign threats, the shogunate launched massive land reclamation projects to construct the coastal artillery batteries, or ¡°daiba,¡± now associated with modern-day Odaiba.
¡°All of it was done by hand,¡± Tomikawa says. ¡°People carried stones and wooden piles themselves to reclaim the sea.¡±
The arrival of railways in the Meiji Era transformed the region yet again. Japan¡¯s first railway line opened in 1872 between Shimbashi and Yokohama, with part of the route running across the sea atop the Takanawa Embankment, remnants of which still survive today.
Later, railway workshops relocated from Shimbashi to Oi, triggering the rapid growth of modern Oimachi. Elevated ground was cut away to make room for factories, workers¡¯ housing and new infrastructure. Industries producing bricks, miso and other goods spread along waterways such as the Meguro and Tachiaigawa rivers.
The area changed again after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, when many displaced residents moved outward from central Tokyo into districts such as Oi and Ebara, accelerating suburbanization. Then came the Tokyo air raids, which destroyed much of Shinagawa and erased countless historical records.
Postwar economic growth reshaped the coastline perhaps more dramatically than ever before. Vast sections of Tokyo Bay were reclaimed for factories and industrial infrastructure. Pollution spread through rivers and coastal waters, devastating fisheries and ending much of the seaweed cultivation that had once defined Shinagawa¡¯s waterfront economy.
¡°Originally the entire area was sea,¡± Tomikawa says. ¡°People could catch fish and cultivate nori there. But after the reclamation and industrialization, those industries disappeared.¡±
Travelers willing to look beyond the glitzy redevelopment projects, however, can still glimpse traces of the past in shrines and temples, culverted waterways, old shopping arcades and neighborhoods shaped by centuries of movement along the capital¡¯s southern edge.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.