The One Hundred Scenic Spots in Shinagawa, or in Japanese Shinagawa Hyakkei (しながわ百景), are places and events to see in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, chosen by local residents.
Seeing the Signs
On my frequent walks around Shinagawa ku (one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo) I often came across shiny metal signs indicating that I was at one of the “One Hundred Scenic Spots in Shinagawa” (しながわ百景).
Sometimes, I couldn’t see what was particularly special about this spot. It just looked like a road or a deserted slightly run down children’s playground. Or it was a downright lie pointing out that there were cherry blossoms here. (Cherry blossoms, here, in winter! I think there must be some mistake.) Intrigued, I thought I’d look into these 100 Scenic spots. Mainly, to get some exercise but also to find out more about where I live. To find out where these scenes are, what they are, who might have chosen them and what was special about them.
Democracy at Work
In 1986 the Shinagawa Ward Planning Department Public Relations and Public Hearing Division 品川区企画部広報広聴課 started a scheme to select these 100 spots. The aim of the scheme was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the special ward system and coincidentally the 5th anniversary of the enactment of the Shinagawa Citizen’s Charter. Tokyo, as a dynamic city, experiences ongoing economic and social changes along with land redevelopment. They aimed to achieve it by inviting the residents of Shinagawa ward to vote for their favourite spots. Spots which convey at least one of these three aspects of life in Shinagawa:
- 生活 (Seikatsu): This term translates to “Life” or “Living” in English. It refers to the daily activities, habits, and lifestyle of an individual or a group.
- 歴史 (Rekishi): This term translates to “History” in English: past events, particularly in human affairs.
- 風土 (Fūdo): This term is a bit complex as it encompasses several concepts. This means “Climate”, “Cultural Landscape”, or “Geographical Character” in English. Referring to to the natural features, climate, and cultural aspects of a region. It reflects how the natural environment influences human lifestyles, thoughts, and values, and how humans utilize and modify nature.
Replacements Needed
As time went by some of the original 100 special wards had disappeared or transformed to the point where they no longer fit the criteria for inclusion. In 2016, on the 70th anniversary of the special ward system and the 35th anniversary of the enactment of the Shinagawa ward’s charter, another vote took place. To select the replacement scenes in order to update the “100” list, 20 candidate sites were chosen for the ballot. And residents could also recommend sites other than the candidate sites. Voting took place between September 1 and October 11, 2016.
Voting took place in many ways; ballot boxes were set up in government buildings and ward-related facilities, voting by mail, voting over the internet, and in-person ballots at public events..
The votes were cast and the results were in:
1) Total number of votes: 15,175 votes
(2) Number of voting participants: 5,713 people
The population of Shinagawa ward in 2016 was roughly 392660 people. Even though some of the population could be disqualified naturally by being too young, too old, absent, ill or disability it does show quite a lack of interest and engagement in this project.
In November 2016 the シティプロモーション推進しながわ会議しながわ百景リニューアル選定専門部会 (City Promotion, Promotion Shinagawa Conference, Shinagawa 100 Views Renewal Selection Expert Committee – crikey, what a mouthful) looked at the votes for the new candidates and into the opinions on other spots suggested by the public and created the current list of 101 spots and changed the names of some existing spots.
Where are these “scenes” and how do I find them then?
The list published on the Shinagawa ward or “City” website splits the list into districts (地区 or chiku) within the ward. These are Shinagawa, Osaki, Ebara, Oi and Yashio. It also lists the scenes that are no longer on the list.
The English translation of the council’s しながわ百景 “One Hundred Scenic Spots in Shinagawa’‘ site provided by Crosslanguage munges up a lot of the translation to English. If you want to refer to it use the Japanese site and use Chrome and Google Translate, or practically anything else, to do the translation if you’re not conversant with the Japanese language.
One example is the title of the very first “scene” listed. #2 稲荷堂 which is translated as “Rice loading hall”. Where the “ing” is in superscript. The correct English translation doesn’t appear on the sign at the places location but it is Inari Hall. Another example is #4 “items Kawaura and Ship” where the sign has the title “Shinagawa-Ura Waters and Harbour”.
(The same goes with the rest of the Shinagawa councils website even though it uses a different translation service. They really should look for better translation services.)
Anyway, the items described on that page don’t exactly explain the exact position of the Scene/Sight/Spot you are looking for. And they don’t give much detail. For example, the Cherry Blossom spot I mentioned earlier. Some of these “scenes” are only visible at certain times of the year on particular dates or at particular times of day. And some aren’t visible at all any more, or if they are visible they are only visible to people with a particular viewpoint not open to the public.
Oh well, what’s the point then and why bother with this 100 thingy list?
Fortunately for you I have looked into these scenes and this website documents my discoveries on the background and histories of these spots. Some of it is fascinating, some of it disappointing, disturbing and so on.
You have actually done some work?
Well, I’ve done some work so you don’t have to.
The page for each location has optionally several sections:
- The number according to Shinagawa city councils list and the name in English (or Romaji) and Japanese (Kanji/Kana).
That is, the English name found on the actual sign at the location, The names on the council’s website don’t always match the sign.
- A description of what it is.
- The sites official link if it has one.
- Background details
- Location details:
- what3words link
- latitude longitude
- Nearest station(s)
- Nearest public conveniences
- A google map
- Show me a sign. Whether I found the sign, and what condition it was in..
The Shinagawa council created this list and they paid for the creation of these shiny metal signs. I’m guessing ¥3万 each, But they didn’t give exact locations for these signs. The website is a bit vague – chōme (丁目) this, chōme that. If I can’t find a glossy commissioned metallic plate with a name saying it is special, then how can I be sure I’m exactly at the place that’s been democratically elected as being special? I’ve found that some of these signs have been removed, possibly stolen, may not exist and some that do exist are in a poor state.
- My thoughts and opinions on the “scene”. Plus other things I think I’ve found out which are relevant to this place. Well, this may expose me to be gloriously ignorant of Japanese culture or maybe deeply insensitive.
- Ratings based upon the three criteria
- Links to references and sources. Hopefully, not always Wikipedia.
- “While you’re there.” Nearby spots which you might want to visit.
Anyway, let’s get on with it. These are the links to the areas. Or just keep going “next” to go through the whole list. (Well when it’s finished you’ll be able to do that – currently this is a work-in-progress.)
