Sugamo is called Harajuku for old ladies as it is popular for shops and restaurants targeting them. There are also some temples being believed to give certain effects on their lives.

Leaving Sugamo station from the South exit, you are facing Route #17. Walking along the street, you will get to Jizodori Shotengai (commercial street). On the street, there are tens of shops and restaurants targeting old people and selling cheap clothes, snacks as well as some Buddhist ornaments. In a few minutes after entering the street, you should find Koganji temple on your right. In the garden, there is Togenuki Jizo, a statue of Buddha being believed to have saved a life of a daughter of noble in this area. It is now believed to give health to those who prayed for. You should see a line of old people wiping the statue with wet towel, and that is how they pray.



The commercial street was once a part of Nakasendo route which connects Edo and Kyoto. There is still a shrine which was built along the route. The Sarutahiko shrine enshrines monkey as their god.



Nearby the site, there is Somei Graveyard with tombs of famous artists and novelists from Meiji period. Somei Yoshino, the most popular species of cherry blossoms, was first planted at this site. There are hundreds of cherry trees.

On the other side of the station, there is Rikugien garden built by a servant for a shogun in 1702. It was purchased by an entrepreneur in Meiji period, and was eventually donated to Tokyo city in 1938. The garden is now opened to public as a park and popular for azalea flowers.