Wild Cherry Blossom Hostel front desk staff Tomo’s Little Tour around the Hostel

Hello~～～～everybody 😀
This is Tomo from Wild Cherry Blossom Hostel.
Today, I would like to introduce some spots around our hostel!

You can reach every spot within 15min max. Some places are just 5 min from the hostel. We have some sightseeing spots here, so why not go have a look at those places if you stay at WCB!!

The city of Koganei is 30 minutes from central Tokyo. But we have some nature spots and quiet peaceful places instead of the busy areas that are common in Tokyo.

We hope you like the west side of Tokyo :)) and have fun too.

➀KONZOIN (Temple):5min from the hostel

Konzoin is located behind of hostel. You can reach for 5min from the hostel.
In Spring, there is a beautiful Cherry blossom tree. If you are lucky, you can take photos of the Cherry blossoms and temple.
Our promotional video was taken here too. You can feel at peace here.
The entrance of the temple.

The main temple (in early summer)

This is the temple with cherry blossom in Spring.(late March~Early April)

➁Koganei shrine(shrine):10min from the hostel

Koganei shirine is 10min from the hostel.
This shrine was originally made in 1205.
The main Shrine was built in 1894. Recently, they renewed and opened it again in Dec 2020.

The pictures of the main building.

If you are lucky, you can get a chance to see Japanese archery. People practice here sometimes.

Millstone tower(Usu)
Inside of Koganei’s shrine, there is a stone usu-tower.
They collected stone usus in 1973. There are many kinds of usu(For Rice, for Mochi, and so on.)
In Japan, there are a lot of Fudetuka(筆塚) and Haritsuka(針塚). But stone usu are really rare.

USU(臼)-millstone
Fudetuka(筆塚) and Haritsuka(針塚)-Kind of monuments

People come here to pray in the new year. The new year day is always busy for praying people.

➂Tenjin bridge:10min from the hostel

Tenjin bridge is for 15min from the hostel, 5min from the ②Koganei shrine.
If you like Ghibli movies, you may have seen this place before in a Ghibli movie. This bridge has something to do with one of the Ghibli movies. If you are a fan of Ghibli, can you figure it out?
The riverside is lined with cherry blossoms in the Spring. It’s super beautiful!

天神橋(Tenjinbashi)

天神橋(Tenjinbashi) in spring with cherry blossom
The river side is open for everybody. You can have picnic with some food or coffee. You can enjoy seasonal flowers and some birds. 

➃Hakenomori street:15min from the hostel

To the Ghibli fans, I have another place for you!
Hakenomori street is for 15min from the hostel, 5min from the ②koganei shirine.
This spot is also in a ghibli movie. You can feel at rest here.
Try being still, you can listen the sounds of trickling cascade

Entrance of Hakenomori street

Middle of Hakenomori street

How was our little tour?  I hope you liked it!🥺
Thank you for reading my blog and take your time.
This was a little tour around the hostel that you can finish in one hour.
If you have time before checking in or after you check out, please visit these local places. The west side of Tokyo is not famous or popular in general, but we have some hidden spots here that not a lot of people know about.
It’s quite fun to know some local sightseeing spots and the history.
This time it was a Temple, Shrine, and Ghibli spots.

Next time, I will introduce more about the history of this area… can you guess what this is?

See you next time!