Tokyo Islands #1: Shinkiba + Yume no Shima (Dream Island) [ENG]
日本語版は ↓
It is difficult to give an exact figure in terms of the number of islands in Tokyo. There are several artificial and natural islands (or just pieces of floating land) that have become integral parts of the main city in Tokyo Bay, but there are also those located hundreds of kilometers to the south that bare little resemblance to the rest of the capital city prefecture. For this series we will begin with those closest.
Upon looking at a map, there seems to be about 30 or so islands belonging to Ota, Shinagawa, Koto, Minato, and Chuo wards.
Shinkiba | 新木場
Shinkiba is an area I imagine not many people are very familiar with but have passed through. Being two stations from Disney and five from Tokyo Station, it basically acts as a kind of transit hub. Although almost no one lives here and it is mainly used as an industrial area, there is more than meets the eye.
Shinkiba has a special place in my heart
From 2013 to the pandemic, I regularly came here several times a year exclusively for events at Studio Coast. My first time was in late January to see band A (please ignore my taste in music for the sake of this article.) I was nervous, as it was the first time I would see my favorite band in Japan. In November, I arrived terribly late for another live event, so I double-checked the route from Nerima (where I lived at the time) to Shinkiba. This time, I made it without any major issues and followed the sea of black t-shirts moving south towards the live house. As I walked across the bridge that connects the main mass to a smaller piece of the island, the grainy, yellow silhouette of Mt. Fuji appeared, looming in the evening sky.
After that night, a few months passed without me thinking about Shinkiba itself, but that wouldn’t last long. Thanks to my European friends who, in university, were seemingly addicted to clubbing, I was coerced into going to AgeHa. I have never really been into nightclubs and I definitely dragged my feet, but after a few Strong Zeros, they managed to get me on the midnight bus from Shibuya with all the other party people. Reportedly Tokyo’s biggest nightclub, I had no idea where it was and was terrified by what I might find. Luckily, I was greeted by Studio Coast’s iconic signboard. Although the entrance was different, I was comforted by the familiar interior: the bar counter, the raised platform furthest from the stage, the concrete floor. This was the same venue where I had seen band A perform a few months earlier! AgeHa and Studio Coast were the same!
Coming Back
Even after many years of visiting Studio Coast, I had rarely strayed from the straight path I took from the station and had never taken the time to explore the surroundings. Granted, most of these trips were well into the evening, so all I knew were the couple of fast food and convenience store establishments close to the station and the one Sukiya along the way.
This complex is currently being built at the former location.
A few weeks ago, I went to Shinkiba for the first time for something non music related. Given that my last visit was in 2019, before the pandemic, a lot of memories came rushing back: late July 2013, 4:30 in the morning, sitting on a bench, waiting for my European friends to come out of the club, my belly full of rum and cokes; the strong ocean breeze, annoying before a show but certainly welcome afterwards; my ritual of taking photos of the signboard with the band name, tour, and date; that one festival Ai came —we forgot to bring enough cash for burritos and didn’t eat until we got home.
On this occasion, we visited for Ai’s birthday. As is evident with her side project “plants and tokyo,” she loves plants, and so requested that we visit the Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse. Seeing that the nearest station is Shinkiba, I was excited to visit a familiar place, but nervous about what we would do for lunch. Sukiya was definitely not going to cut it on her birthday, so I had to actually check what else is there. I was surprised by the results.
CASICA / Arkhē
Behind the Sukiya are a couple of very fashionable facilities. For lunch, we stopped by Arkhē, which describes itself as an apothecary and kitchen. They prepare dishes with herbs and dried foods. We tried some herbal medicine curry and stew, with delicious sides like miso soup, hijiki, and cauliflower. Looking around, we were surprised by the size. The cafe area is rather modest, but we realized that the entire space, CASICA, houses a greenery shop, a pantry goods shop, a studio, and an antique / wooden goods shop. Shinkiba became the location of lumber yards after several lumber companies moved there from the original Kiba to the north. Henceforth the name, Shinkiba (shin = new.) CASICA honors this tradition by producing its own wooden products, the variety of which is quite impressive. Baskets, chairs, other furniture and accessories; there was even a broom gallery and a live broom making demonstration.
CASICA has deepened my understanding of Shinkiba. Underneath its industrial exterior lays an artificially natural beauty.
Yume no Shima | 夢の島
Yume no Shima, on the other hand, presents itself in the total opposite manner. Today, it is a large park, including a sports stadium, archery range, and Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse. In the 1930s, it and the area that now encompasses Shinkiba was once the site of Tokyo airfield. At that time, upon completion, it would have been the largest airport in the world. Due to the war and recommendation to expand Haneda Airport instead, this never happened and the area was then used as a dumping ground. In the 50s and 60s, it became associated with the Tokyo Garbage Wars, but efforts were made to increase incineration and landfill operations were transferred elsewhere. The image has certainly changed, but the irony of such a nice park being planted on top of a landfill has definitely not been lost.
Yume no Shima Tropical Greenhouse
After lunch, we made our way north towards Yume no Shima and took a right onto the Yume no shima Green Road Park. Unfortunately we didn’t realize that there isn’t easy access to the main park from here, so after getting to the end of the trail, we had to head back in the opposite direction. Still, after being in the industrial zone of Shinkiba and just learning about its historical relationship with trees, it was refreshing to be surrounded by them.
Eventually we got to the three domed structure of the Yume no Shima Greenhouse. It has an impressive collection and variety of plants. A waterfall, towering palms, and several carnivorous types. Ai enjoyed observing several rare species and telling me how some of the plants in our room could one day be as big as they are there, if given the chance.
I guess giving things a chance is a good lesson to be learned from this trip. Shinkiba, despite its surface level exterior as an industrial waste land, home to a nightclub I dreaded, has a hidden culture. Yume no Shima, as well, has a history of image change, all within a very short time.
I hope to continue to shed light on the geographical extensibility of Tokyo and the unknown facts about the existence of reclaimed land and islands. Stay tuned for more!
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