Kichijoji & Inokashira Park Audio Guide

Welcome to Kichijoji & Inokashira Park

Welcome to Kichijoji. About fifteen minutes by train from Shinjuku. As the train slips out from between the office towers and glides into the station, the moment you step onto the platform, you notice your shoulders somehow easing. This is Kichijoji, a beloved town representing western Tokyo, known for landing near the top of places-I'd-like-to-live rankings almost every year. Lively shopping streets, stylish homeware shops, and tiny bars cluster tightly together — and yet, just a short walk from the station lies Inokashira Park, with its trees and pond spreading wide. The bustle of the town and the calm of the greenery sit side by side at just the right distance, and that is this town's charm. For locals, it is an admired, easy-to-live-in town where shopping, strolling, and resting are all within reach. For travelers, it is a place to meet the comfortable everyday of Tokyo, without the air of a tourist site. Over the next hour or so, let's trace the stories carved into this town and its park. Stop in a lane or under a tree wherever you like, and listen at your own pace. Let's begin with a surprise — why a town named Kichijoji has no temple of that name — in the history of Kichijoji.