Attended "Secrets of Tokyo's Topography as Seen through Uneven Maps"

An acquaintance gave me information about a lecture titled “Secrets of Tokyo’s topography as seen through uneven maps,” so I attended the event. I thought I would take a short walk before that, but it was quite a long distance. I was nervous about whether I would make it in time for the lecture.

I skipped my walk last week because of the snow, so today I must walk.

I had a reservation to attend a lecture titled “Secrets of the Tokyo Topography as Seen through an Uneven Map” at the Edogawa Ward Tobu Library, so I decided to head there while taking a walk.

Huge buildings including the Tokyo Metropolitan Measurement Laboratory and the Tokyo International Post Office near Minamisunamachi Station!

Prior to my visit, I checked the area near the library and noticed the Edogawa Ward Nature Zoo in Kitakasai. Admission seems to be free. I got off at Minamisunamachi Station, thinking that I could leave a little early and adjust my time at the zoo.

Minamisunamachi Station

Minamisunamachi is the station I used the other day when I walked along the Loop Route 4.
I wanted to take a different exit to change my mind, but I ended up coming out of the same exit. I can’t help it, my sense of direction is dull underground and in buildings. The time is almost noon.

Direction to Minamisunamachi Station Entrance Intersection

Looking far to the east at the intersection of Minamisunamachi Station Entrance, the starting and ending point of the Loop Route 4, I want to walk a little differently, so I head south.

Huge building under construction

Near the sea shore, some huge building was under construction, probably because it was easy to secure land.

Tokyo Metropolitan Measurement Laboratory

Walking down the street, I found the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Metrology Inspection Station! So it was here.

General Metrologist Problem Collection

I had previously thought about becoming a certified metrologist on my own. The past questions were challenging and good, and it seemed like I would be able to continue studying without falling behind. However, I was told that there would be an on-site inspection at my place of work when I registered, and I thought it would be troublesome if I should encounter any problems there, so I simply stopped. I should have inquired before buying the issue book. Maybe it is important to check the management system, but I hope that the exam can be competed only on the basis of individual competence.

Tokyo International Post Office

This is the Tokyo International Post Office. I thought it was a post office I had no connection with, but at the nearby Kiyosuna Ohashi Nishizume intersection, there was a sign that read “We sell stamps, postcards, letter packs, etc.”. I wondered if they decided to put up the sign because many people are overwhelmed by the name and the size of the building and are reluctant to visit.

At this point, I checked my handy GPS and found that the estimated time of arrival was 14:09. The lecture starts at 14:00. No matter how much I set the final arrival point as Mizue Station, if I am not careful, I will be late. Although I was not Melos the Running Man, I had to suddenly become fast.

View with many pylons from Kiyosuna Bridge

As you start crossing the Kiyosuna Bridge over the Arakawa River, your right hand side is covered with steel towers.
The electricity towers are for transmitting and receiving electricity at the Koto Substation. Since the power transmission lines seem to go underground immediately, I could not tell where they go after the power plant and substation.

The Giant Ferris Wheel of Diamonds and Flowers and the chimney of the West Water Reclamation Center.

The Giant Ferris Wheel of Diamonds and Flowers of Kasai Rinkai Park can be seen in the southeast direction.
The chimney to the right of the Ferris wheel is the Kasai Water Reclamation Center.

Kiyosuna Bridge that continues for about 1 km

The road stretches about 1 km straight as it crosses the Arakawa River, which is about 500 m wide, and the Nakagawa River, which is about 150 m wide, all at once. It seems endless, partly because of the lack of time.

Discover places to enjoy a walk, such as Gyosen park and Furukawa Shinsui Park!

Old Kasai Coastal Levee Monument

But it is not often that I get a chance to come to this neighborhood, so I must see what I need to see. After crossing the bridge, I went back crying along the north side of the bridge for less than 200 meters and found the old Kasai Coastal Levee Monument. The plaque on the left side is a map dated around 1972, which shows that this area was the mouth of the Nakagawa River. The area around Shinsakon Shinsui Park was completely at the bottom of the sea.

Penguins at the Edogawa-ku Nature Zoo

Goats and rabbits at the Edogawa-ku Nature Zoo

About 800 meters northeast of the levee monument is Gyosen Park, a corner of which is the Edogawa Ward Nature Zoo. I was allowed to take only a photo of the penguins and goats as evidence that I had been here.
Oh yes, at the entrance of the zoo, there was a postcard-sized sign that read “Announcement” and “We have now become an Australian government accredited zoo. Perhaps it is quite an event. But what caught my interest was the date, March 15, 1989. It was almost 30 years ago, but “at this time”?

Edogawa Heisei Garden

The Edogawa Heisei Garden was also located in Gyosen Park.
Snow hanging. I saw snow hanging at a place called Kansenen Park last month as well. Have snow hangings started to become popular in the Kanto region? Or have I just not noticed it before?
At any rate, the garden was a place with few ups and downs, but you could sense the hard work that went into putting the scenery together.

rectangular pylon

I found a rectangular pylon at the triangular bridge across the Shinkawa River! Not only one of the pylons, but the one beyond it was also rectangular, so I photographed them all in a straight line. There are no obstacles in the vicinity, and I don’t think it would be a problem even if the arms extend out to the sides, but why did they design it in a rectangular shape?

Shinkawa river

After walking about 300 meters, I realized that I had to walk along the Furukawa Shinsui Park heading in the northeast direction.

Kannana Avenue

But there is also the Kannana, so it is hard to go in the direction I want to go.

Furukawa Shinsui Park

Finally, I arrived at Furukawa Shinsui Park, a well-maintained and serene park.

Plum blossoms in Furukawa Shinsui Park

Plum blossoms have begun to bloom and the breath of spring can be felt.

Shinnakagawa River seen from Mizuho Bridge

Cross the Shinnakagawa River at the Mizuho Bridge.
Two sluice gates can be seen, and it looks as if separate rivers are merging, but the other side of the sluice gate seems to be another river. Why do they make it this way?

Huge plant to refine oil for industrial use

On the other side of the old Edo River, a huge plant can be seen. It appears to be a plant refining oil for industrial use.

Imai Children’s Traffic Park

Pass by Imai Children’s Transportation Park.
There’s aerial cycling, looks like fun!
A large portion of the site was under construction and looked like they were building new playground equipment.

Edogawa Ward Eastern Library

After walking for 1 hour and 45 minutes at an average speed of 5.7 km/h, I finally arrived at the Edogawa Ward Eastern Library.
I think this is quite fast for walking while obeying traffic signals and taking pictures.
It was 20 minutes before the lecture started. It was just enough time for me to read the materials in advance.

Masaki Sato: The secret of Tokyo’s topography as seen through an uneven map!

With a capacity of 40 people, the room was almost filled to capacity.

The lecturer was a man who works for a mapping-related company and had given several lectures elsewhere. The content was interesting and the one and a half hour lecture time flew by.
I would like to introduce two of the topics that impressed me.

• The unevenness of the land is sometimes represented by shading, and the light source is usually directed from the upper left rear to the lower right front. However, since the map is drawn with north at the top, the sun would be in the northwest position. This is strange because in Japan, the sun should be in the south.
• Seventy percent of the area of Edogawa Ward is in the 0 meter above sea level zone. Within Edogawa Ward, the elevation near the Kasai Waterfront Aquarium is relatively high. Therefore, there are places where people should evacuate toward the sea to escape tsunami damage.

I could tell that he spent a lot of time preparing his lecture materials by riding his bicycle and taking pictures here and there. If there is a lecture by Mr. Sato near you, I highly recommend that you attend.

Fuji mound in Shimokamata is found!

Fuji Mound in Shimokamata

After the lecture, on the way from the library to Mizue Station, I saw the Fuji Mound in Shimokamata.

Mizue Station

This is Mizue Station, the last stop for today’s tour

Walking data

Course: Tokyo Metro Tozai Line Minamisunamachi Station -> Edogawa-ku Shizen Zoo -> Edogawa-ku Tobu Library -> Toei Shinjuku Line Mizue Station
Distance: 11.2 km
Time: 1h58m (not including 2h1m lecture listening time)