Revisiting Tsurumi River

The last 4 posts about the Tokyo Cycle Mode have focused on the product side of the bicycle quite a bit. I do like looking at bikes and accessories, but I think that's just one part of the experience of riding a bike. Other things like the environment you ride in and the weather might actually contribute more to the overall experience. Of course, how the bike feels is very important, but it doesn't matter so much if that bike is a high tech race bike or a mamachari. Any bike that's in decent working condition can be a joy to ride depending on the occasion. I guess what I'm trying to say is that at Cycle Mumbreeze, we are not that obsessive about the gear. For us, just enjoying riding the bicycle is more important. Even riding a mamachari barely faster than walking along the river is an enjoyable experience.



Last weekend, we rode to the nearby Tsurumi River. Tsurumi river runs parallel on the West side of the more famous Tama River. Beyond Tsurumi River is Tsurumi, the Eastern ward of Yokohama, where I grew up as a child before my family moved to the US when I was 13. So, Tsurumi River is the first river I probably came in contact with. The name Tsurumi translates as something like "Crane watching". I've always wondered if there was a time when you could go to the river and see cranes there. But, Tsurumi River as far as I can recall had never been known for its beauty or cleanliness. I think especially when I was growing up, it was in poor shape from industrial sewage. It has been a while since I'd been there because from where we reside now, it's much easier to get to the Tama River. To go directly to the Tsurumi River seemed complicated, so we decided to first go to the Yagami River which is a small river that runs into Tsurumi River.


View Larger Map

The above map sort of shows the route that we took although I couldn't get the route to be exactly the way we went. We rode mostly directly along the river.

The top photo is where the Yagami River meets Tsurumi River.


Kao looking at Tsurumi River.

It was a nice Sunny day and there were plenty of people out walking, running and riding bikes.



We ran into this family in the above photo. They were going rather quickly. Kao wanted to get a photo, but couldn't catch up with them, so I followed them instead and took this picture. You may not be able to tell, but there is a man running in front of the woman on the bike. The woman is carrying her child on her back which is quite unusual to see with so many options for carrying a child on a bike being available in Japan. It seemed the man who was probably the husband of the woman was training and the mother and child was following him closely behind.





There were many parts of the river front that were under construction.




"Tsurumi river basin area is in the shape of a baku(tapir)" this post says.



We crossed and went underneath a few railroads. This one might be right under the Shinkansen (bullet train).



We went to the Otsunabashi near the Tsunashima station and then headed back. Overall, the Tsurumi river didn't seem to be quite as well maintained or fashionable as the Tama river, but it seemed cleaner than I remembered from my childhood days and the local people there seemed to be enjoying the area.

Anyway, it was nice to revisit a place from my childhood and not be disappointed.