Places in the Tokyo/Kanto: Ikebukuro

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I have to say that Ikebukuro is not my favourite place to be. It is huge, with a station second only two Shinjuku and a million people passing through it every day. However, for me it is just a place and has none of the charm to be found in elements of the other high rise areas, Shinjuku and Shibuya. The main thing Ikebukuro has going for it is shopping and it boasts the two largest department stores in Japan, if not the world.

These two stores are named Tobu and Seibu. Tobu is a name for East Tokyo and Seibu is a name for West Tokyo (the 'bu' ending they share comes from the first character of Musashino, the old name for this region). The companies are owned by two half-brothers, whose father became rich in the immediate post-war period. For reasons unknown, the legitimate brother was disinherited and his brother thus received most of the assets, which he built into the Tobu Empire. The Seibu brother was left with little more than the company name but although I don't know the full story, he has managed to build his own Empire to almost match Tobu. Seibu has a reputation for being involved with the new and trendy. They used to have the largest department store until a few years ago when Tobu built another annex to surpass it. This is just one element of the sibling rivalry. I haven't confirmed this but heard that they also will not accept each other's credit cards. However, the greatest irony of all with regard to these huge department stores in Ikebukuro is that while Seibu (west) is on the east side of the station, Tobu (east) is on the west side.

Tobu and Seibu each have their own railways empires as well so in addition to JR's Yamanote loop line, Saikyo line to Saitama and Tohoku branch line to Utsunomiya and Japan's northeast, the Seibu Ikebukuro line heads west through Tokyo's northern suburbs and into Saitama's south-west and the Tobu Tojo line runs to Kawagoe in the south of Saitama. Tobu has a more extensive rail network further east. Ikebukuro also boasts two subway lines, and a third line is under construction to be opened in about 5 years and will eventually head to Shibuya but right now links the Seibu line with the Yurakucho subway line. Ikebukuro, like Shinjuku, is also the starting point for many of Tokyo's 'highway bus' (coach) services to various places throughout Japan, including Kanazawa.

Apart from being dominated by Tobu, the west side of Ikebukuro is also home to Rikkyo University, one of the big 6 Tokyo Universities and where my friend Ki Ki used to be on exchange. As a result my trips to Ikebukuro were usually to see her and another friend Akiko . The University was founded by an American Episcopalian (Anglican to Aussies) missionary in early 1874 and the elegant architecture resembles what I guess you see in American Ivy League schools and while the grounds are small, the University is quite impressive. It marks the first in a long band of Universities which stretch east and south down to Tokyo University in the Ochanomizu/Ueno vicinity. Probably from the influence of the university, once you get out of Tobu's clutches, the west side has a bit of a cafe lifestyle with some bars and restaurants as well, and is relatively quiet, although there is a Marui department store on the way to the University. Opposite the Tobu department store is the Metropolitan Art Space which I haven't yet visited but its modern architecture is quite impressive from the outside.

On the east side, apart from Seibu and its lesser branches Loft and Wave, another member of the Seibu group, Parco is also dominant. Just for some variety, there is also a Mitsukoshi department store. However, even more dominant, is the Sunshine 60 building which was built on the site of the infamous old Tokyo Prison along with three other building which as a group are called Sunshine City. It has among other things a Toyota museum, an aquarium and in the Bunka Kaikan the Ancient Orient Museum although I haven't seen the latter two yet. In addition there is a large array of shops and offices and also the hotel.

In between Sunshine City and the station is the liveliest part of Ikebukuro which is why I try to avoid it. The big electric stores rival Akihabara but you can get stuff just as cheap in either Shinjuku or Shibuya. While the place is alright in the daytime, at night it becomes quite sleazy although I have been to a few good izakaya in the area.

Ikebukuro is not all that bad a place but it is inconvenient to get to from most places I have lived, especially Chiba, and so when possible I head for Shinjuku or Shibuya when I have need of the big city feel. Still it is still worth a look.

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