Asagaya

At present the Asagaya area is divided latitudinally into North (阿佐ヶ谷北, Asagaya-kita) and South (阿佐谷南, Asagaya-Minami) by the Chūō-Sōbu Line.

Boundaries for this area are roughly the same as those for Asagaya Village (阿佐ヶ谷村, Asagaya-mura), dating back to the Edo Period.

Longitudinally, the Japanese Zelkova serrata tree-lined boulevard, Nakasugi-dōri (中杉通り), divides Asagaya, running from Ome-kaido in the south to Waseda-dōri in the north.

From around the Taishō period people began moving from the Yamanote area (central Tokyo) into the suburbs including Asagaya.

After the exodus from central Tokyo following the Kantō Earthquake of 1923, Asagaya became the home to a literature community beginning with Ibuse Masuji, and eventually including Yosano Akiko, Dazai Osamu, Aoyagi Mizuho, Ima Harube, Miyoshi Tatsuji, Hino Ashihei, and Tokugawa Musei.

Along the bar streets that run to the west of the JR Asagaya Station on the north and south sides are a number of tiny music venues, mostly jazz and folk oriented.