Inokashira Park is a 38-hectare park around a spring-fed pond that supplied Edo with drinking water, opened in 1917 as Japan’s first suburban park and now the reason Kichijoji keeps winning the “where would you like to live” polls. Cherry trees lean over the water, a small island holds a shrine to the goddess Benzaiten, and the swan pedal boats come with a local legend that couples who ride them will break up.
Enter from the station’s south exit down the shopping street, circle the pond anticlockwise past the weekend musicians, and continue into the woods toward the Ghibli Museum or the small zoo. Spring and late autumn are spectacular; a weekday morning in any season is the quiet version.
Tips
- Swan boats cost about 800 yen per 30 minutes; the rowing boats are cheaper and quieter
- Weekend street performers and craft stalls line the path by the pond; the small zoo on the west side has a separate fee
- Follow the signs through the south of the park to the Ghibli Museum, a 15-minute walk