Spring is near as the southern wind becomes stronger in Tokyo these days. A glimpse of Spring landscape can be already seen between windy days. Plum and daffodils started to bloom, and cherry blossom is expected within a week or so. Air temperature fluctuates up and down, but its average is steadily going up. Unusually cold winter this year is about to be over soon.
Feeling well by a warm sunshine for the first time since the end of last November, I decided to take a walk.
Several weeks ago, I was visited by a little nephew who is now absorbed in "Ultraman". When I was a kid, I was also absorbed in it in a similar way, such as arranging Ultraman figures around pillow at sleep, studying the effect of spacium ray, and practicing how to shoot the ray (in mind), etc. In the end of the day, we found that we are sharing the common "cultural" background. My interest in Ultraman flares up again for the first time since my graduation from elementary school.
Next week, I went to a rental-DVD shop for several episodes of Ultraman and Ultraseven. My vague memory was refreshed as I watched. I started to recall the first several stories gradually. As a scientist, I can tell now that there are many wrong scientific explanations and strange astronomical objects, but I know these things are acceptable as an entertainment for kids in 1960s and 70s. I was rather impressed by beautiful landscapes of Japan recorded in the programme: mountains, lakes and sea shores are far more beautiful than they are at present. "A comparison of the scenes in Ultraman with the present situation may be very interesting" is what I thought. Actually, this is the second reason for taking a walk.
The production company of Ultraman (called "the Tsuburaya production") used to be located in the west part of Tokyo called Kinuta, which is near Seijo, Setagaya district. In the boundary of Kinuta and Seijo, a small river called "Sengawa" is running along the small cliff called "Kokubunji-gaisen", which is the west tip of the Tokyo plateau. Along the river is a nice footpath, so I headed to the Seijo station to walk down to the riverside.
The first feature I found was the Toho movie studios in Seijo, where Godzilla was produced. There is a bronze statue of Godzilla in the entrance, which is so nice to see and touch!
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| Godzilla standing in front of the Toho studios. |
On the walls of the studio buildings, there are pictures drawn, such as "Mothra" and "Seven samurai of Akira Kurosawa". In fact, Kurosawa lived near to the studios. (Mifune also lived nearby. His property was purchased by Kobe-ya, a restaurant company, and you can take a break there after taking a walk.)
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| River railing of Godzilla's paw along the river Sengawa. |
In the river railings near the studios, you can find a special plate depicting the paw and shadow of Godizlla's.
It is surprising to know that the production company of ultraman used to be located very near to this place where I took a picture of the Godzilla river railing. It is less than five minutes walk. Hopefully, there should be a movie, "Godzilla vs. Ultraman". But it was not realised... I remember that there was a statue of Ultraman-A in the entrance to the production, but it does not stand there any more. Unfortunately, the production company bankrupted several years ago, and was purchased by an investment company. New ultraman series are produced somewhere else in Tokyo at present.
Further down along the river, you find yourself in public apartment buildings for low-income households. In 1960s, living in this type of the public apartment complex was fashionable, and middle-class people rushed to apply to a room as soon as new buildings were built. But now, the situation was drastically changed. Only those who cannot afford to buy a house remain in the apartment. Anyway, in the DVD I watched, there is a scene in the second episode of Ultraseven ("The terror of Green") showing the landscape of the apartment complex.
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A scene from the second episode of Ultraseven, "The Terror of Green".
An object in the circle still remains in the place. |
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| The present situation of the scene above. |
An object seen in the upper right in the Ultraseven episode still remains in the same place, that is, in front of the No.20 apartment building. The object is actually for kids. They can climb, they can hide in the hole, or whatever they want. The shape of the object is based on the shape of gastropods, which can be easily understood if you walk around the side of the object.
Beyond the end of the street is the small cliff of "Kokubunji-gaisen", and I climbed there to reach the public park, "Okura koen".
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| Entrance to the Okura-koen public park. |
On top of the small cliff, there is an athletic playground for kids, as well as tennis courts which are usually occupied by senior people, who have time and money than we do... The park was established early in the previous century. As a proof for that, you can find old boundary stones in the edge of the park.
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Boundary stones set by Tokyo-fu (東京府）,the former municipal body before Tokyo-to（東京都）,
the present organization. (Left picture: front with an inscription of "東京府"; right picture: the other side with a symbol of Tokyo-fu, originating from a Chinese character of "East, 東".)
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According to Wikipedia, the former municipal body of Tokyo, that is, Tokyo-fu, was introduced soon after the surrender of the Tokugawa to the Meiji government in the end of the Edo period. Tokyo-fu continued to exist until 1943, two years before the Japan's defeat against the US in the WWII. The reason for making Tokyo-to government (東京都）was to collect money and resources to the capital from all over Japan whatever people say. At any rate, the stones we can see today were placed there in the WWII period, and have been there since then!
In this park and the park next to it (Kinuta public park), plum (Ume) trees were blooming nicely, giving a very impression that Spring is almost there.
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| Plum blooming in Kinuta public park |
In the Kinuta park, there is a cafe offering nice coffee and French pancake (crepe). I often visit the cafe with my sheep dog for lunch. My favorite table is next to the spring fountain outside the cafe. In sunny days, you can enjoy blue sky and warm spring sun for hours. There is a restaurant inside the art museum (Setagaya Museum), but it is more formal and you cannot enjoy lunch with your dog...
Leaving the public parks of Okura and Kinuta, I headed to "Ultraman street" in Soshigaya. The highstreet in Soshigaya decided several years ago to promote themselves by the help of Ultraman, because the Tsuburaya production used to be next to them. In the square of the Soshigaya station, there is a statue of Ultraman. There are other ultraman kinds in the highstreet, but I don't find them all yet. The interesting thing is the street light, which looks like a head of Ultraman. In daytime, the background is full of disturbs, such as electric wires and apartment buildings, which melts the shape of the Ultraman lights. But at night, only the lights can be seen, so that the shape of Ultraman becomes clearer and more vivid!
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| Ultraman street lights in Soshigaya |
Further walk along the high street, you can find flying statues of Ultraman in the gates to the street.This time, I found Ultraman Zoffy at the west gate. He is literally flying, which is so fantastic in the blue sky.
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| Zoffy flying over the Soshigaya highstreet. |
This is it for this time.
