Review questions from the real quiz with answers, explanations and sources. Think it through first, then reveal the correct answer.
This is a selection from the question pool — the real quiz also draws questions you won’t find here.
Last updated: 2026-09-14
What comes to mind when you hear “Kichijoji” is probably only one slice of the picture. Its actual place in the desirability rankings, the hidden reason behind an alley named after a harmonica, rumors of an endless line outside one tiny confectionery shop, and the quieter purpose behind a small community bus — these first ten questions push one step deeper into the town's real face. Clear all ten and you could walk a first-time visitor through the neighborhood yourself. Open any answer and a sourced explanation is waiting.
Correct answerMusashino City
Kichijoji is not an independent municipality; it is a district within Musashino City, Tokyo, and Kichijoji Station's official address likewise falls under Musashino's Kichijoji Minamicho. Administratively it is distinct from neighboring Mitaka and Suginami, even though the name Kichijoji is widely used, on its own, as if it were a town in its own right.
Correct answerFalse
The SUUMO Most Desirable Towns ranking surveys 10,000 people aged 20 to 49 living in the Greater Tokyo area about which town or station they would most like to live in, and Kichijoji is a perennial fixture near the top. In the 2025 edition, it placed third, behind Yokohama, which took first place for an eighth consecutive year. Because many people assume Kichijoji always tops the list, it is worth remembering the actual ranking rather than the reputation.
Source:SUUMO Most Desirable Towns Ranking 2025, Greater Tokyo Edition
Correct answera boating area
Inokashira Pond has a boating area where visitors can rent swan boats or rowboats and spend time out on the water. Being able to get onto the pond itself, rather than simply walking around it, is often highlighted as one of the distinctive pleasures of a park located this close to central Tokyo.
Source:Facilities | Inokashira Park
Correct answerShibuya
The Keio Inokashira Line runs between Kichijoji and Shibuya, so any train boarded at Kichijoji is, by definition, headed toward Shibuya. One notable feature of the line is that it links two very differently flavored Tokyo neighborhoods — Kichijoji and Shibuya — directly, with no branch lines in between.
Correct answerTrue
Manga artists and animators have long lived in and around Musashino City, and Kichijoji in particular is known as one of the birthplaces of Japanese subculture. Because neighboring Mitaka is home to the Ghibli Museum, the two towns are often mixed up, but the tourism association's own account credits Kichijoji, not Mitaka, with that specific history.
Correct answerThe narrow-fronted little shops lined up like the reeds of a harmonica
According to the Musashino City Tourism Association, Harmonica Yokocho takes its name from the way rows of narrow-fronted little shops line up, resembling the mouthpiece of a harmonica. Anyone who actually walks the alley can immediately sense the tightly packed rows of storefronts that inspired the comparison in the first place.
Source:Harmonica Yokocho | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerTrue
The Musashino City Tourism Association presents Kichijoji as a music town, pointing to the many musicians across genres — from folk to jazz — who have ties to the area, and to the live houses scattered throughout its streets. More than a few performers who once honed their craft in these small venues went on to wider success.
Correct answerTrue
Ozasa is a small confectionery shop that sells only two items — monaka wafer sweets and yokan jelly — and it is well known for the queues that form even before opening time. Limiting itself to just a couple of products, and often selling out of its daily quota, is part of what keeps loyal customers coming back.
Source:Ozasa
Correct answerTrue
The zelkova-tree avenue at Seikei Gakuen is a well-known local avenue that has also been designated a Natural Monument by Musashino City. Its row of large zelkova trees, visible even from outside the campus, is sometimes cited as one of the scenes that symbolize the Kichijoji and Musashino area.
Source:Cultural Properties and Folk Materials | Musashino City
Correct answerTrue
Musashino City explains that one purpose behind introducing the Mu-bus community bus was to eliminate areas poorly served by train stations or major bus routes. By using small vehicles that can navigate narrow residential streets, the service supports mobility for neighborhoods that previously had a hard time reaching the station on foot.
The next fifteen questions are Kichijoji you would miss just passing through: a pond once captured in one of Hiroshige's ukiyo-e prints, the surprising way one back alley actually got its start, a locally grown vegetable raised by an unusual method that keeps it pale, and a small live house with a surprising claim to fame. Even longtime residents can hesitate here — this is territory where you need sharper memory than casual familiarity provides. A few prompts lean on a year or a number as a clue, so read carefully and take your time.
Correct answerOne Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Inokashira Pond appears in one print of Utagawa Hiroshige's late-career series, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. That an artist chose to depict a pond on the outskirts of the city suggests it was already recognized as a scenic spot worth painting, even in Hiroshige's own time.
Source:About Inokashira Park
Correct answerNorthern pintail
The northern pintail is one of several migratory ducks that arrive at Inokashira Pond once winter sets in. Even though the pond sits close to central Tokyo, the way its birdlife changes with the seasons is highlighted as one of the pleasures of nature-watching in the park.
Correct answerYou must show up in person at a distribution spot, limited to one card per person during the campaign
The design manhole cover cards are free collector's cards given only to people who show up in person at a distribution spot, limited to one card per visitor during the campaign period; there is no proxy pickup or mail delivery, so getting one requires an actual visit. The idea is to use the manhole designs themselves as a reason to walk around the neighborhood.
Source:Design Manhole Covers & Transformer Boxes | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerHanako
Hanako was an Asian elephant kept for many decades at Inokashira Park Zoo, living to age 69 — one of the longest recorded lifespans for an elephant in Japan. Having spent so many years at the same zoo, she became a familiar presence to generations of visitors who grew up visiting her enclosure.
Source:About Inokashira Park Zoo
Correct answerPark a bit away from Kichijoji, then ride the Mu-bus into town
Moo Park is a park-and-bus-ride car park set up a short distance from the center of Kichijoji. The recommended way to use it is to leave your car there and transfer to the Mu-bus community bus for the rest of the trip into town, giving drivers an easy way to reach the station area without needing to park right in the middle of it.
Source:Traffic Information & Access | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerAs a postwar black market that sprang up in front of the station in 1945
Harmonica Yokocho's roots trace back to a postwar black market that sprang up in front of Kichijoji Station in 1945. A market that appeared spontaneously amid the wartime ruins gradually evolved, through later lot reorganization, into the narrow shopping lanes that still stand today, and the alley's tangled layout is itself a visible trace of that history.
Source:Harmonica Yokocho | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerBlanching cultivation
In Musashino City, udo has traditionally been grown using a blanching method that keeps the plant away from light — underground or under cover — so its stalks develop pale and tender. Counted among the Edo-Tokyo heritage vegetables, this labor-intensive traditional technique is still carried on today by a handful of local farmers.
Source:Tokyo Udo | Edo-Tokyo Heritage Vegetables | JA Tokyo Chuokai
Correct answerBy day it bustles with fishmongers and florists; by night, izakaya and eateries take over
According to the Musashino City Tourism Association, Harmonica Yokocho bustles by day with fishmongers, florists, and confectioners, then switches faces after dark, when restaurants and izakaya take over the same narrow lanes. Seeing the identical alley wear two completely different expressions depending on the hour is part of what visitors enjoy about the place.
Source:Harmonica Yokocho | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerJust a few houses stood nearby, and only a handful of people got on or off
According to Musashino City's history page, when Kichijoji Station opened in the Meiji era, only a handful of houses stood nearby and just a few people boarded or got off each day. That is a striking contrast with today's crowded station front, and the anecdote is often cited to illustrate just how dramatically the town has grown since then.
Correct answerMr.Children played their first-ever live house show there in 1988
Silver Elephant, one of Kichijoji's live houses, is known as the venue where Mr.Children — later one of Japan's most successful bands — played their very first live house show in 1988. The fact that so many musicians got their start in small venues like this one is part of the reason Kichijoji carries its reputation as a music town.
Correct answerProduction I.G / Studio Ponoc / Tatsunoko Production
Well-known animation studios such as Production I.G, Studio Ponoc, and Tatsunoko Production all have bases in or around Kichijoji. Citing this cluster of studios, the Musashino City Tourism Association promotes Kichijoji as a town closely tied to anime and manga subculture.
Correct answerMany have stayed in business for 10 or 20 years, each with its own distinct character
Around Kichijoji Station, many vintage clothing shops have stayed in business for ten or twenty years, and it is the accumulated character of each individual shop, rather than any chain-store formula, that has built the town's distinctive vintage culture. What stands out is not just new shops arriving, but long-established ones becoming fixtures of the streetscape.
Source:Kichijoji Culture: Vintage Shops & Anime/Manga Town | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerFour
Beyond the Mu-bus community bus, Musashino City is served by four separate operators — Kanto Bus, Odakyu Bus, Keio Bus, and Seibu Bus — whose routes together cover almost the entire city. Because these networks overlap rather than divide the city into neat zones, which bus company residents rely on often just comes down to which part of town they live in.
Source:Traffic Information & Access | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerMost bars keep menus on hand, making it easy even for first-timers to order
Many bars in Kichijoji keep a proper menu on hand, so prices and drink options are clear even to first-timers — a detail repeatedly cited when the town is introduced as “Bar Town Kichijoji.” The fact that plenty of these bars also feel welcoming to solo customers helps turn an evening stroll through the streets into an easy stop for a drink.
Source:Bar Town Kichijoji: KICHIJOJI BAR MAP 2026 | Musashino City Tourism Association
Correct answerAbout 9 Tokyo Domes (roughly 430,000 sq m)
Inokashira Park covers roughly 430,000 square meters, an area equivalent to about nine Tokyo Domes. Official guides often stress the value of having a green space this large preserved as a single block, tucked right up against ordinary residential streets rather than sitting apart from the city.
Source:About Inokashira Park
The final fifteen questions ask whether you actually know Kichijoji, not just its reputation: an old, forgotten name for the Kanda River, the two other spring ponds that keep Inokashira Pond company in a trio, a poet's study quietly relocated inside the zoo grounds, and the modest gathering of shopkeepers that grew into a long-running shopping association. None of this is guidebook material — it only turns up once you dig into city records and historical timelines. Ordering and multiple-select formats are mixed in, so you'll need to reassemble scattered fragments along a timeline. Clear this tier, and the top titles in the real quiz come into view.
Correct answerEdogawa
According to Tokyo's river management records, before the River Act was revised, the stretch of the Kanda River from Otaki Bridge to Funakawara Bridge was called the Edogawa. Because "Edogawa" today usually refers to an entirely different river flowing through eastern Tokyo, this earlier name is a historical detail that is easy to confuse without knowing how the naming changed.
Source:River Management by Tokyo's Third Construction Office
Correct answerThe Second National Industrial Exhibition
Records show that Kichijoji udo was exhibited at the Second National Industrial Exhibition held in 1880. The fact that a local crop was put on display at a national exhibition of this scale suggests udo cultivation was already valued as more than just a vegetable grown for home consumption.
Source:Musashino City Historical Chronology: Paleolithic Era to 1888
Correct answerTen Million House
Musashino City presents Ten Million House as a scheme that uses vacant houses and local human resources to provide welfare services such as day care, positioning it as one of the city's pioneering, resident-led programs. Rather than building new facilities from scratch, the idea is distinctive for making use of resources the community already has on hand.
Source:About Musashino City
Correct answerLocal disaster preparedness
Kichijoji Nishi Park functions as a relaxing neighborhood spot, but it is also equipped with disaster-preparedness facilities. Although it feels like an ordinary quiet park most of the time, it is designated to serve as a support point for the surrounding area and for visitors whenever a disaster strikes.
Source:About Nakamichi Street
Correct answerEight
The Inokashira Street Shopping Association was founded in 1939 with just a handful of shopkeepers banding together. As one of the older threads in Kichijoji's shopping-street culture, tracing back to before the war, the association's modest beginnings are themselves a small piece of the town's collective memory.
Correct answerZenpukuji Pond / Sanpoji Pond
Inokashira Pond, Zenpukuji Pond, and Sanpoji Pond are collectively known as the Three Great Spring Ponds of Musashino. All three formed where groundwater emerges along the escarpment at the edge of the Musashino plateau, which shows that Inokashira Pond is not a one-of-a-kind feature but one of several ponds produced by the same underlying geology.
Correct answerNorthern shoveler / Tufted duck
The northern shoveler and the tufted duck are both introduced as winter visitors to Inokashira Pond. Even at a pond this close to central Tokyo, the fact that the lineup of waterfowl changes with the season is one of the highlights for anyone birdwatching in the park.
Correct answerNoguchi Ujo
Doshinkyo was the study of Noguchi Ujo, the lyricist behind well-loved children's songs such as “Akai Kutsu” and “Shabondama,” and it was later relocated to Inokashira Park Zoo. Many visitors find it a surprising combination — a poet's private study, quietly preserved within the grounds of a zoo.
Correct answerNakano / Kokubunji / Shinjuku / Sakai
The Kobu Railway's original opening section included Shinjuku, Nakano, Sakai, and Kokubunji stations — Kichijoji Station did not yet exist, nor did Mitaka. Kichijoji's own station would only open sometime after this first stretch of track began operating.
Correct answerPromote food education and local consumption / Celebrate births with the community / Introduce the taste of local vegetables
The Konotori Vegetable program promotes food education and local consumption built around locally grown vegetables, while also celebrating the birth of local babies and sharing the flavor of those vegetables with families. What stands out is how it ties together two seemingly separate areas — agriculture and support for new parents — within a single program.
Correct answerMaintaining streetlights / Security cameras / Public Wi-Fi / Cleaning activities
The Kichijoji South Exit Shopping Association handles tasks such as maintaining streetlights, installing security cameras, providing public Wi-Fi, and running cleanup activities. This shows that a shopping association is not simply a collection of individual stores, but also takes on the job of keeping the street itself safe and pleasant.
Correct answerHamaguchi Yozo / Hagiwara Hideo / Oda Kazuma
Kichijoji Art Museum's print collection is built around the work of three artists: Hamaguchi Yozo, Hagiwara Hideo, and Kazuma Oda. Despite being a fairly small museum, it has created a collection with real depth by focusing deliberately on a specific area rather than trying to cover everything.
Correct answer200
According to Tokyo's official guide, roughly 200 cherry trees have been planted around Inokashira Pond. Being able to enjoy a proper hanami experience at a location this easy to reach from central Tokyo is one of the main reasons people flock to Inokashira Park each spring.
Correct answerKichijoji Library → Kichijoji Art Museum → Kichijoji Theatre → Kichijoji Higashicho Agricultural Park
Kichijoji's public cultural and agricultural facilities opened in this order: the library, the art museum, the theatre, and finally the Higashicho Agricultural Park. Library, museum, theatre, and farm park — the sequence traces how facilities supporting residents' daily lives were added one by one over the years.
Source:Overview of Kichijoji LibraryAbout Kichijoji Art MuseumAbout Kichijoji TheatreKichijoji Higashicho Agricultural Park
Correct answerThe Kichijoji Ekimae-dori shopping cooperative was founded. → The arcade groundbreaking was held and the name Sunroad was chosen. → The organization launched under the name Kichijoji Sunroad Shopping District Promotion Association. → The arcade's second construction phase was completed.
Tracing Kichijoji Sunroad's official history, the sequence runs: the founding of the shopping cooperative, the naming of "Sunroad" at the arcade's groundbreaking ceremony, the launch of the organization under its current shopping-district-promotion-association name, and finally the completion of the arcade's second construction phase. The moment the name was chosen and the moment the current organization took shape turn out to be two separate milestones.
Source:History | Kichijoji Sunroad