Sotobori Garden and more (1)
There is a green walking path from Iidabashi station that runs all the way through and past Yotsuya station, all along and above the JR railtracks. It is named the Sotobori Garden (Sotobori Koen), and it makes for a wonderful walk experience with various vistas and panorama. Well, panorama more than often does not fit Japanese landscape. There is usually something that will function like a blister in the eye, an ugly tower, a powerline or an ad panel out of the blue to deflate the panorama. Of course this does not apply - sometimes - if you are somewhere in the middle of the Japanese Alps. But in central Tokyo, the landscape enjoyments are in the details.
To fully enjoy the walk, have at least 2 hours ahead. This is not trekking on the Himalaya so despite the dirt along the way, an health conscious business person with correct shoes and time ahead can also participate. One exciting aspect of walking along the Sotobori tree planted path is to see the city from an unusual angle. On the right side, you are towering the railway tracks and the water canal. On the left side, you are towering just a little above the city level. Thanks to the fact that the path mostly runs along small adjacent roads, there is a strange and agreeable feeling of walking in the back alleys of the town. As far as practical matters are concerned, the path also enjoy a lack of vending machines, meaning that if you don’t want to leave it in-between, buy your pet bottle beforehand. The path is well treaded between Iidabashi and the next station Ichigaya, but never crowded except in the cherry blossom season. When the blossom is over and the leaves have been brushed out by such climate incident as yesterday’s typhoon, the nude cherry trees are all black and desolate, some with supporting poles to avoid these elderly vegetals to crumble down in the trough down there. The desultory atmosphere is one characteristic that makes the walk exceptional. Yes, there is beauty in desolation, but this is not a war path anyway.