Mamiana-cho: The Badger Burrow and Diplomatic Ridge

Why is it significant?

Ascend the steep, tree-shaded hillside of Mamiana-cho, one of Tokyo's most exclusive, historic, and enigmatic residential enclaves.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Ascend the steep, tree-shaded hillside of Mamiana-cho, one of Tokyo's most exclusive, historic, and enigmatic residential enclaves. The quaint name Mamiana translates poetically to Badger Burrow or Mongoose Hollow: during the feudal Edo era, this steep wooded bluff was covered in wild bamboo thickets where mythical tanuki raccoon-dogs and badgers dug deep underground dens. Today, the secluded ridge is lined with stately diplomatic compounds, high stone security walls, and manicured pine gardens.

Looming behind high wrought-iron gates on this ridge stands the Embassy of the Russian Federation, occupying a sprawling compound that has housed Russian and Soviet diplomatic missions since nineteen zero-eight. Because of its diplomatic sensitivity, Japanese riot police vehicles and uniformed officers maintain twenty-four-hour security checkpoints, creating an aura of geopolitical intrigue. The forested ridge preserves the ancient topography of the Musashino plateau before urban expressways reshaped the valleys below.

Turn around at the crest of the hill to behold one of the most dramatic architectural vistas in the city: soaring directly above the low tiled residential roofs and dense cedar trees rises the brilliant orange-and-white steel lattice of Tokyo Tower, glowing like a colossal geometric jewel against the Tokyo sky. Winding cobblestone pathways climb past embassy residences and antique lampposts, offering peaceful evening strolls away from traffic.

In the late nineteenth century, this neighborhood served as the creative retreat for prominent Western writers and scholars, including Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), who gathered local ghost legends and folklore from neighborhood elders while strolling these quiet wooded slopes. In autumn, golden ginkgo leaves carpet the stone curbs, creating a dazzling golden pathway along the diplomatic crest. In autumn, golden ginkgo leaves carpet the stone curbs, creating a dazzling golden pathway along the diplomatic crest, celebrated by neighborhood flâneurs and embassy diplomats taking evening strolls.

Follow the descending lane east toward Sakurada-dori, crossing the boulevard to approach the soaring red base of Tokyo Tower.