Every Thursday and Friday for the last two years, I go to Hikawadai in Nerima City to teach English in an after school center for Japanese kids. Nerima is located at the northwest edge of Tokyo. From our station, Nishi-Kasai, going there takes me about an hour by train to Iidabashi station and then take Yurakucho train going to Hikawadai station. And since that it already quite a long travel, I don’t spend much time before or after my classes. But as a travel enthusiast, I always wonder what can I see beyond my usual route.
Last week I needed to come a bit earlier to school for a meeting before the class starts. However there was more than an hour gap before my class so I took this as an opportunity for me to feed my curiosity. I started with the nearby shrine just across our school. From there I walked a little further to Johoku Chou Park. Going there, I got fascinated with the beautiful gardens in front of some private houses. Also, there were quite a number of small shops along the big road. Hikawadai is highly residential area – lots of single detached houses, small family restaurants, and shops.
Johoku Chou Park is considered as the largest sports park in Tokyo. It is also used as an evacuation area in case a disaster occurs especially earthquakes. After a few minutes of rest, I continued my walk back to school. But instead of taking the big road, I walked a little more to access the smaller inner roads. Unfortunately, I needed to head back to school because of my class.
Anna! Miss you alot!!! We are soo much alike!!! :)))
Miss you too Julia!! Also our unplanned walks 🙂