Sumo Town Ryogoku (Ryougoku)

Activity > Tokyo > Sightseeing > Tokyo Station

Sumo Town Ryogoku (actually should be pronounced and spelled "Ryou Goku", say the "o" AND the "u". In Japanese りょうごく | 両国) is a great town to visit not only for the Sumo Wrestling but also because it is very close to Tokyo station and has many interesting sightseeing spots around the station.  I went to Ryogoku this time not to watch Sumo or go to the Edo-Tokyo Museum but just to walk around the town and check out the sights. Check out my map on the left (click it to see a larger version) and see the walking route I took.  I didn't time myself or anything because it was a leisurely day for me to just enjoy but I'm guessing it took 3 to 5 hours for me to walk that route and see the sights.  "5 hours!" you say? Well... I tend to linger, enjoy and take in experiences as I walk so yeah, 5 hours is no big deal for me.

It was a pretty hot day, around 30C which is... 90F? so I was in my typical shorts and singlet (tank top).  I was actually going to stop in at the Edo-Tokyo Museum for a minute but it was closed on that day (Monday its normally closed), so I continued to just walk and headed toward Yokoamicho Park. From the museum to Yokoamicho Park it only took about 10 min. of walking through some modern business buildings and past a high school.  The park itself contains a shrine to those civilians killed in the American Air Raids of WW2 and a small museum and shrine dedicated to those of the 1923 Great Kantou earthquake which in turn caused a massive fires that burned most of Tokyo down.

Ok, after paying my respects and discovering a bit about some bad things in history I headed over to Kyuu Yasuda Garden which I "heard" was quite a beautiful little garden that is rarely visited by foreigners.  It was exactly that, a very beautiful and green garden with a Japanese bridge and pond in the middle.  There was nobody in the garden while I was there (except for mosquitos!) so I leisurely strolled around and got some great pictures!

The day was still young so I just took off in "another" direction (actually I didn't know what direction I was headed) and ended up going under the tracks and running into a major street where I decided to "turn right".  A block down the road I reached Sumida Gawa (Sumida River) where I took a few shots and then saw some very interesting buildings down a side street so headed down that way.  Actually I was getting pretty hungry doing all this walking and was hoping to come upon some cool and delicious shop but... nothing around.  The side street took me down and around parts of Ryogoku where the "Sumo Stables" are.  "Sumo Stables" are where "Teams" of Sumo athletes practice and usually live.  I had heard that you can go in and watch but... I didn't plan that out very well and had no idea where to go so didn't do that, maybe next time.

Once again I came upon a river and took a cool shot down the river with the highway above.  However, I was now getting extremely hungry so was on a mission to find something to eat.  Finally I stumbled on a soba shop that was... incredibly good... AND Cheap!  I think I only paid 300 or 400 yen for hot soba and a piece of tempura.

Well, my feet were tired and my tummy was full so it was time to call it a day and head home... to jump in a HOT Japanese bath.  Ryogoku offers a lot for the meandering tourist. Most tourists just come for either the Sumo or the Edo-Tokyo Museum but if you do go to Ryogoku you may want to stay an extra hour or two and walk around a bit.  The Kyuu Yasuda Garden is especially worth visiting and after visiting that you may want to walk over to the other side of the station and get some soba!