Tachikawa History Walk: How a Mulberry Village Became Tama’s Hub

北の上空から見た立川飛行場とその奥に広がる基地跡地の緑2023年 立川駅徒歩1分年中無休の溶岩ホットヨガスタジオ

A timeline of Tachikawa history (with sources)

Full source titles and URLs are listed under “Sources” below. Years follow each source; Japanese era names were checked against the Western calendar and given alongside.

Year (Western / Japanese era)EventSource
c. 13,000 years ago (Paleolithic)Traces of human activity at the Mukogo site, Nishiki-cho / Hagoromo-choCity timeline (to the 1700s)
Jomon periodSettlement remains confirmed at the Owada site, Shibasaki-cho, and the Mukogo siteCity timeline (to the 1700s)
811 (Konin 2)Suwa Shrine welcomes its deity from Suwa in ShinshuCity timeline (to the 1700s) / Suwa Shrine “History”
1252 (Kencho 4)Hachiman Shrine built in Shibasaki-choCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1353 (Bunna 2)The Tachikawa clan founds Fusai-ji as its family temple (by tradition)City timeline (to the 1700s) / City walking course “Old villages”
1361 (Enbun 6)Fusai-ji’s six-sided stone pillar is made (National Treasure from 1953)City timeline (to the 1700s) / Agency for Cultural Affairs database
1455 (Kyotoku 4)First Battle of TachikawaraCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1504 (Eisho 1)Second Battle of TachikawaraCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1586 (Tensho 14)A Musashino wildfire burns Suwa Shrine’s buildings and old recordsSuwa Shrine “History”
1596–1615 (Keicho era)Murano San’emon of Kishi village begins clearing Sunagawa ShindenCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1629 (Kan’ei 6)Azusami Tenjin Shrine built in SunagawaCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1633 (Kan’ei 10)Sunagawa Shinden becomes an Owari domain falconry groundCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1653 (Joo 2)Tamagawa Shoemon and Seiemon dig the Tamagawa AqueductCity “Tamagawa Aqueduct” / Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks
1654 (Joo 3)The Tamagawa Aqueduct opensCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1657 (Meireki 3)Sunagawa branch channel opensCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1689 (Genroku 2)Land survey in Sunagawa: 175 householdsCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1736 (Genbun 1)Sunagawa Shinden becomes Sunagawa villageCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1737 (Genbun 2)Shibasaki branch channel opensCity timeline (to the 1700s)
1868 (Meiji 1)Shibasaki and Sunagawa placed under Nirayama Prefecture (Kanagawa Prefecture from 1871)City timeline (1800s–1924)
1870 (Meiji 3)Local school opens at Fusai-ji (today’s Municipal Daiichi Elementary). Boat traffic begins on the Tamagawa AqueductCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1872 (Meiji 5)Boat traffic on the aqueduct banned for hygiene reasonsCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1881 (Meiji 14)Shibasaki village renamed Tachikawa villageCity timeline (1800s–1924) / City “Overview”
1889 (Meiji 22)Kobu Railway (today’s JR Chuo Line) opens with a station at Tachikawa. Tachikawa becomes an independent village under the new municipal systemCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1893 (Meiji 26)The three Tama districts move from Kanagawa to Tokyo PrefectureCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1894 (Meiji 27)Ome Railway opensCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1901 (Meiji 34)Tokyo Prefectural Second Middle School (today’s Tachikawa High School) opensCity timeline (1800s–1924)
1910 (Meiji 43)Silk reeling in Sunagawa closesCity timeline (1800s–1924)
Autumn 1921 (Taisho 10)Decision to build an airfield in TachikawaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
November 1922 (Taisho 11)Tachikawa Airfield opens; Army 5th Air Battalion moves from KakamigaharaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / MIC “War damage”
September 1923 (Taisho 12)Great Kanto Earthquake; Tachikawa’s civilian aircraft carry news and manuscriptsCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / City timeline (1800s–1924)
1 December 1923 (Taisho 12)Tachikawa village becomes Tachikawa townCity timeline (1800s–1924) / Historical administrative boundaries dataset
September 1927 (Showa 2)A Soviet aircraft arrives, the first foreign aircraft at TachikawaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
July 1929 (Showa 4)Japan’s first scheduled civilian passenger service begins, Tachikawa–OsakaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
1929 (Showa 4)Chuo Line electrified to Tachikawa; Nambu Railway opensCity timeline (1925–1949)
1930 (Showa 5)Ishikawajima Aircraft moves from Tsukishima to Tachikawa. Tachikawa Station South Exit opensTachihi Holdings “History” / City timeline (1925–1949)
September 1933 (Showa 8)Civil aviation moves to HanedaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
March 1934 (Showa 9)Army Air Arsenal moves from TokorozawaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
April 1937 (Showa 12)Kamikaze-go flies from Tachikawa to LondonCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / City timeline (1925–1949)
1 December 1940 (Showa 15)Tachikawa town becomes Tachikawa CityCity “Overview” / Historical administrative boundaries dataset
1942 (Showa 17)District names Fujimi, Shibasaki, Nishiki, Hagoromo, Akebono, Takamatsu and Midori fixedCity timeline (1925–1949)
From 16 February 1945 (Showa 20)13 air raids; 340 confirmed deadMIC “War damage”
4 April 1945 (Showa 20)A bomb hits the Yamanaka-zaka shelter, killing 42MIC “War damage” / City walking course “Old villages”
September 1945 (Showa 20)US forces arrive; the airfield becomes a US baseCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / Showa Kinen Park Office
1951 (Showa 26)City keirin track opensCity timeline (1950–1970)
30 June 1954 (Showa 29)Sunagawa village becomes Sunagawa townCity timeline (1950–1970) / Historical administrative boundaries dataset
May 1955 (Showa 30)Base expansion plan notified; the Sunagawa struggle beginsCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / NDL Collaborative Reference Database
8 July 1957 (Showa 32)Sunagawa Incident over the survey of private land inside the baseTokyo District Court ruling (“The World and Japan” database)
30 March 1959 (Showa 34)Tokyo District Court acquits (Date ruling)“The World and Japan” database
16 December 1959 (Showa 34)Supreme Court Grand Bench overturns the Date rulingHouse of Representatives written question (169th Diet)
1961 (Showa 36)Japan’s first female city-council chair electedCity timeline (1950–1970)
1 May 1963 (Showa 38)Sunagawa town incorporated, forming today’s Tachikawa CityCity timeline (1950–1970) / Historical administrative boundaries dataset / City history newsletter Tachikawa Monogatari vol. 4
December 1968 (Showa 43)US Air Force commander announces cancellation of runway extensionCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield” / MIC “War damage”
October 1969 (Showa 44)US forces announce end of flying at TachikawaCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
December 1972 (Showa 47)Ground Self-Defense Force moves into Tachikawa BaseCity “History of Tachikawa Airfield”
30 November 1977 (Showa 52)Tachikawa Base fully returnedShowa Kinen Park Office / Cabinet Office “Tachikawa Disaster Prevention Base”
1982 (Showa 57)New station building, station complex and north–south passage completedCity timeline (1971–1985)
May 1983 (Showa 58)Central Disaster Management Council decides to develop the Tachikawa Disaster Prevention BaseCabinet Office “Tachikawa Disaster Prevention Base”
26 October 1983 (Showa 58)Showa Kinen Park opens its first phase, 70 hectaresShowa Kinen Park Office
1 December 1985 (Showa 60)Museum of History and Folklore opensCity “Museum of History and Folklore”
1994 (Heisei 6)Faret Tachikawa opens. Suwa Shrine’s main hall and other buildings burn downCity timeline (1986–1999)
1995 (Heisei 7)Fusai-ji burns downCity timeline (1986–1999)
1995 (Heisei 7)Hachioji–Tachikawa business core city plan approved by the National Land Agency and othersCity timeline (1986–1999)
1998 (Heisei 10)Tama Toshi Monorail northern section opensCity timeline (1986–1999)
2000 (Heisei 12)Tama Toshi Monorail opens in fullCity timeline (2000–2009)
21 November 2003 (Heisei 15)Cabinet understanding designates the Tachikawa backup facility as the alternative national disaster headquartersCabinet Office “Tachikawa Disaster Prevention Base”
2008–2009 (Heisei 20–21)National Institute of Japanese Literature and National Institute of Polar Research move to Tachikawa; court branches move onto former base landNIJL / NIPR / City timeline (2000–2009)
2015 (Heisei 27)City begins compiling a new city history. Reported that the Tachikawa Fault does not exist in the city. LaLaport Tachikawa Tachihi opensCity timeline (2010–2024) / Tachihi Holdings “History”
April 2020 (Reiwa 2)GREEN SPRINGS opensTachihi Holdings “History”
1 April 2024 (Reiwa 6)Population 186,076City “Overview”

初日の汗は、予約した人だけが持ち帰れる。

体験レッスンを予約体験専用 03-6665-0898LINE

Sources

All sources are in Japanese.

  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (to the 1700s)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005962.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (1800s to 1924)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005963.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (1925 to 1949)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005964.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (1950 to 1970)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005965.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (1971 to 1985)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005966.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (1986 to 1999)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005967.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (2000 to 2009)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005968.html
  • Tachikawa City, “History of Tachikawa (2010 to 2024)” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005948/1005969.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Overview of Tachikawa City” (topography, elevation, area, population, origin of the name, main history) https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisei/gaiyo/1005930/1005954.html
  • Tachikawa City, “The History of Tachikawa Airfield” (PDF) https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/page/001/004/905/7tatikawahikoujou.pdf
  • Tachikawa City, “Walking Course 1: Old Villages” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004848/1004889.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Walking Course 3: Modern Times” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004848/1004891.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Walking Course 4: The Birthplace of Sunagawa Shinden” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004848/1004892.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Walking Course 5: Sunagawa and the Tamagawa Aqueduct” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004848/1004893.html
  • Tachikawa City, “National Historic Site: Tamagawa Aqueduct” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004847/1019994/1004854.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Museum publications” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/bunka/1004244/1004851.html
  • Tachikawa City, “Museum of History and Folklore” https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisetsu/1008065/1008098.html
  • Tachikawa City history newsletter Tachikawa Monogatari vol. 4 (2017) https://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/files/attach/55/55346/132527_1_%E5%B8%82%E5%8F%B2%E7%B7%A8%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E5%BA%83%E5%A0%B1%E7%B4%99%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9Evol4.pdf
  • Tachikawa City history newsletter Tachikawa Monogatari vol. 7 (2019) https://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/ja/article/121458
  • Tachikawa City Library, “Researching Tachikawa 3: The Sunagawa Struggle” (2020) https://www.library.tachikawa.tokyo.jp/images/upload/tachishira03_202007.pdf
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), “War damage in Tachikawa City (Tokyo)” https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/daijinkanbou/sensai/situation/state/kanto_21.html
  • Cabinet Office (Disaster Management), “Tachikawa Disaster Prevention Base: Backup Facility for the Disaster Headquarters” (as of 2014) https://www.bousai.go.jp/oukyu/kunren/yobishisetu/pdf/tachikawa.pdf
  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Showa Kinen Park Office, “History of the park” https://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/showa/purofile-history/history.htm
  • Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database, “Sekito” https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/846
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Waterworks, “Revision of the plan for the Tamagawa Aqueduct historic site” https://www.waterworks.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/documents/d/waterworks/01_setsumei
  • Suwa Shrine, “History” https://suwajinja.or.jp/history.html
  • Tachihi Holdings, “History” https://www.tachihi.co.jp/about/timeline/
  • ROIS-DS Center for Open Data in the Humanities, “Historical Administrative Boundaries Dataset (beta)”: Tachikawa village https://geoshape.ex.nii.ac.jp/city/resource/13B0090041.html / Sunagawa town https://geoshape.ex.nii.ac.jp/city/resource/13B0090010.html / Tachikawa City https://geoshape.ex.nii.ac.jp/city/resource/13202A1968.html
  • National Diet Library, Collaborative Reference Database, “I want to know about the Sunagawa struggle” https://crd.ndl.go.jp/reference/entry/index.php?id=1000325248&page=ref_view
  • Database “The World and Japan” (GRIPS / University of Tokyo Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia), “First-instance ruling in the Sunagawa case (Date ruling)” https://worldjpn.net/documents/texts/JPSC/19590330.O1J.html
  • House of Representatives, “Written question on judicial independence in the Supreme Court ruling on the Sunagawa case” (169th Diet) https://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_shitsumon.nsf/html/shitsumon/a169550.htm
  • Watanabe Ken, book review of The Sunagawa Case and Chief Justice Tanaka, Japan Society for Archival Science, Archival Science No. 20 (2014) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/archivalscience/20/0/20_137/_pdf
  • Tachikawa Kyoiku Shinkokai blog, “Tachikawa History Walk” https://www.tachikawakyoikushinko.com/blog/categories/tachikawa-history
  • Tama Tebako Net, “Was that Showa? Tachikawa back then (4): 1986” https://www.tamatebakonet.jp/town/detail/id=15223
  • National Institute of Japanese Literature, “Profile” https://www.nijl.ac.jp/outline/profile/
  • National Institute of Polar Research, Science Museum https://www.nipr.ac.jp/science-museum/
立川駅徒歩1分年中無休の溶岩ホットヨガスタジオ

Quiz answer

Japan’s first scheduled passenger flight, which left Tachikawa Airfield in July 1929 (Showa 4), was bound for B, Osaka. The city’s “History of Tachikawa Airfield” states that Japan’s first scheduled civilian passenger service began between Tachikawa and Osaka in July 1929. Four years later, in September 1933, civil aviation moved to Haneda. Haneda’s senior, in other words, is Tachikawa.

Before you go

  • Tachikawa City Museum of History and Folklore (立川市歴史民俗資料館), 3-12-34 Fujimi-cho, Tachikawa. Opened on 1 December 1985 (Showa 60). Check opening hours and closing days on the city’s facility page: https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisetsu/1008065/1008098.html (Japanese)
  • Fusai-ji Temple and Suwa Shrine, Shibasaki-cho. The shrine says it is a 10-minute walk from JR Tachikawa Station. Medieval and Edo-era Tachikawa sleeps on the South Exit side of the station. https://suwajinja.or.jp/access.html (Japanese). These are places of worship: walk quietly and follow posted rules.
  • Showa Kinen Park. The former airfield became, more or less directly, a park. The Akebono Gate is about 10 minutes from Tachikawa Station’s North Exit. Check opening hours and admission on the official site: https://www.showakinen-koen.jp/
  • The Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa. You can trace the shape of the Edo-era village using the maps for the city’s walking courses 4 and 5 (links in Sources above).
  • Getting to Tachikawa: From Shinjuku or Tokyo Station, take the JR Chuo Line west to Tachikawa. From Tokyo Station it is 37.5 km, about 40 minutes by Special Rapid. Carry an IC card such as Suica or PASMO to save buying tickets, and check opening days on each official site before you set out.
  • Other stories in this “Tachikawa Walks” series go deeper into each era of this timeline: Fusai-ji and Suwa Shrine, the Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa, Tachihi, Showa Kinen Park, Faret Tachikawa and the Tama Monorail.
立川駅徒歩1分年中無休の溶岩ホットヨガスタジオ

After a walk through history, by the North Exit

Walk a thousand years of timeline and your head tires before your feet do. Each time you cross from one era to the next, you pick up more unfamiliar place names and dates. At the end of a day like that, you want some time to stop thinking and come back to your body.

A one-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, on the 3rd floor of the Etoile Building (2-14-10 Akebono-cho, Tachikawa), is On the Shore Tachikawa (オンザショア立川店), a lava-stone hot yoga studio. It is only a few steps beyond the North Exit plaza that was built on that wartime firebreak land.

The studio floor is laid with lava-stone plates for hot yoga. There is also room-temperature yoga, Pilates, women-only kickboxercise, boxercise, HIIT and personal training, with more than 25 kinds of yoga lessons. It is open every day from 8:00 to 23:30.

First-timers can book a trial yoga lesson for ¥1,980 (tax included), with two bath towels, one face towel and a mat rental included. Pregnant guests cannot join lava-stone hot yoga, but room-temperature maternity yoga is available. Many of our yoga instructors speak English, and the studio’s owner, Naomi Fujita, who holds Japan’s top English qualification (Eiken Grade 1) and a perfect TOEIC score and once worked as a translator and overseas interpreter at Nomura Securities, and who lived in Alaska for three years, often helps guests from the US bases in English herself (visitors from abroad have even left Google reviews about the care they received in English); if you would like an English-friendly lesson, just say so when you book.

After reading a hundred years of the Capital of the Sky, an hour spent counting your own breaths is not a bad way to end the day.

  • Studio website: https://ontheshore.jp/
  • Book a trial lesson: https://site.locaop.jp/C0aVK?_src=hp

Cover photo: The Tachikawa Airfield area seen from the north in 2023, with the Tama River beyond the runway (Photo: ブルーノ・プラス / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons)

Information as of October 2026.

More Tachikawa Walks

All Tachikawa Walks (English)

初日の汗は、予約した人だけが持ち帰れる。

体験レッスンを予約体験専用 03-6665-0898LINE

💬 ご質問がある場合はこちらからどうぞ

オンザショアのチャットで質問する(24時間受付)

レッスン内容・料金・体験のご予約など、気になることをお気軽にお尋ねください。

1 2

3


Warning: Attempt to read property "show_author" on false in /home/c1531448/public_html/ontheshore.jp/wp-content/themes/heal_tcd077/single.php on line 165

関連記事

PAGE TOP
ご体験予約