Monday 24 December 2018

Visiting Matsudo in Autumn

EMU Odakyu 4000 series arrives at Matsudo station on the JR East Joban line

It is late-December already. Autumn has gone and winter is here in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Before the New Year, I am going to hurry and show you the topic of this autumn.

Matsudo is a commuter city in Chiba Prefecture. I visited it with my family last month for the first time in one year and a half. Last time, we enjoyed walking along Edo River and saw a beautiful corn poppy field. This time, our purpose of the visit was touching upon the local history of the city of Matsudo.

Our destination was Tojo-tei on a small hill. It was a large house originally owned by Akitake Tokugawa, who was the younger brother of the last shogun in the Edo Period. The Tokugawa family ruled Japan over a period of 264 years until 1867. After the establishment of the Meiji Government, Akitake retired and lived in Tojo-tei House. The last shogun Yoshinobu often visited him. We saw a well maintained traditional house currently owned by the city of Matsudo. It was good timing because the chrysanthemum show was being held by the local people.

To visit this historical house, the nearest station is Matsudo on the JR East Joban Line. Since we live in the western part of Tokyo on the Odakyu line, Matsudo looks far from our home; but it was not necessarily true. Odakyu frequently operates direct trains onto the Joban line via the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line. It takes just one hour from our nearest station to Matsudo.

Interior of Tojo-tei House near Matsudo station on the JR East Joban line