100% would recommend to manhole, history, and civil engineering nerds. I got a bunch of freebies, including the manhole card. You get to wear a helmet when you go underground! The movie before the tour has subtitles in various languages, but the tour is only in Japanese; foreigners are very welcome, but they need to bring a translator if they don't speak Japanese.

+3

I visited after seeing an article about the azalea viewing event. This year the peak bloom started early nationwide and was mostly over, so I went without much hope. Unfortunately, the flowers were completely finished. But I was lucky enough that a string quartet event was held for the first time this year at 11:30. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I was able to sit and enjoy it on the 2nd floor. The live string quartet performance by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra was wonderful. I'm looking forward to next year too.

+3

Built over 100 years ago (1922), this was Japan's first modern sewage treatment plant. Now that its role has been transferred to a newly built facility next door, it is preserved and open to the public as a National Important Cultural Property. I had a wonderful tour experience here. It is a reservation-only tour for people interested in how modern urban infrastructure was built, in urban history, or in the technology of the time, to come and learn in depth. (It is not a place for people who vaguely like old things to come looking for photogenic spots.) Tours are limited to 2 groups each time. In my time slot I was the only one, and a very knowledgeable retiree from the Bureau of Waterworks gave me a kind and thorough one-on-one explanation, which really moved me. Starting with why a sewage facility was built at this location, the guide explained, in front of the actual equipment, how the various facilities worked and how they were operated. The equipment works based on simple laws of physics or applications of the chemistry and biology you learn in junior and senior high school, so it's easy to understand, but I was amazed by the ideas and technical skill that went into designing such ingenious facilities and devices from that scientific knowledge 100 years ago. Thank you for the free tour, the attentive guidance, and even a souvenir. Thank you very much.

+3

I signed up for a Sunday tour and really enjoyed it! The application time slots and schedule are detailed on the website. If you sign up and don't show up, the staff member accompanying the tour ends up waiting in vain, so be sure to contact them if your plans change. So, on a hot, hot Sunday, the one who opened the gate for me was a somewhat older staff member. First I was shown to a cool waiting room. And, to my surprise, I was the only one. One-on-one tour, yay! First, you watch a video while hearing about the facility's brief history, the terrain, and so on. After that, they guided me through the facility in order. There's a restroom in the waiting room building too, so no worries. You move from the entrance gate to the treatment facilities at the back while getting explanations. You can also see part of the underground tunnels. Apparently it's open to the public during cherry blossom and azalea season, so lucky for people who live nearby~. It seems they once held an event decorated with candles, but now it's apparently prohibited under the fire service law. It was an interesting tour. They accept applications on all days except regular closing days, so if you want to go while sightseeing, definitely sign up and take the tour. The Toden Arakawa Line is convenient. Takigawa-nichome is the nearest stop, but for the main gate, I figured going one stop further and walking back is about the same distance? There may be more visitors once summer vacation starts, but they seem to cater to international visitors too, and tours were divided by country. Apparently, if a time slot is open, they'll even let you in on the same day if you wait. Finally, there was a short survey, and I received souvenirs such as an origami Earth-kun and a tote bag.

+3

Every month I pay my sewerage fees as if it's a given. I vaguely knew the money was used for maintaining and cleaning the sewers, but this tour was the first time I really thought about, “How did Tokyo's sewer system start in the first place?” The former Mikawashima Sewage Disposal Plant is a facility that began operating in 1922 as Japan's first modern sewage treatment plant. Apparently, in the Meiji era, against the backdrop of cholera outbreaks and other problems, the need to improve urban sanitation grew, and the construction of modern sewers moved forward in Tokyo as well. Seeing the facility in person, there were so many clever touches that it's hard to believe it was built over 100 years ago. For example, the inlet is split into two lines, east and west, with a mechanism that lets the flow of sewage be stopped temporarily during maintenance. The underground channels are lined with tiles. It was also interesting that there were detailed tricks to keep the tiles from being peeled off by the water flow. Sewers don't just treat wastewater from households; they also play an important role in draining rainwater to protect the city from flooding. It reminded me of a visit to the sewerage museum in Fukuoka, where I heard that after major flood damage caused by heavy rain in 1999, the sewerage bureau had spent many years working on flood countermeasures, which left a strong impression on me. Sewers are something we almost never think about in daily life, but visiting a facility like this made me realize once again that they are a very important piece of infrastructure supporting our lives behind the scenes. I'd also like to thank the people who work on their maintenance and management every day. And of course, my other purpose for coming here was the manhole card (lol). At first it was all about collecting the cards, but thanks to manhole cards, I've started going to places I might never have visited otherwise. Not just here, but in many places I've come into contact with local culture and craftsmanship, visited unexpected places, and had memorable experiences. Collecting the cards is fun in itself, of course, but I think a big part of the appeal of collecting manhole cards is that they lead you to places you didn't know, where you encounter new things and have experiences you normally wouldn't. Highly recommended. Finally, a huge thank-you to the guide who showed me around. Before the tour, they even took the trouble to call me to confirm which language to use for the explanations, and on the day, in the extreme heat, they explained everything one by one, carefully and clearly. Thanks to them, the tour was very enjoyable and educational. Thank you so much!