The Abiko area brings together literary history, preserved buildings, walking routes, and themes related to Lake Teganuma. These include houses from different eras and the Shirakaba Museum, as well as environmental education and views of the landscape. Choose the focus of your stay according to your interests.
Literary History and Historic Houses
During the Taishō period, Shirakaba writers Sōetsu Yanagi and Naoya Shiga, as well as journalist Sokukan Sugimura, lived in the Abiko area. Some of their homes in the area are still preserved today. The Shirakaba Museum preserves the activities and achievements of the writers of the Shirakaba school and passes them on to future generations.
The former Murakawa Villa in the Abiko area is also part of Abiko’s history as a villa resort: it is the only surviving villa building from the period when Abiko flourished as a villa resort during the Taishō period. At the former Inoue House in the Abiko area, architectural history and the story of a long-established family come together. The grounds preserve a main house and storehouses dating from the Edo period to the early Shōwa period. During the Kyōhō era of the mid-Edo period, the family took part in developing new rice fields along Teganuma and held the position of village head for generations.
Teganuma: Environment, Landscape, and Art
In the Abiko area, Mizunoyakata at Teganuma Shinsui Plaza includes an environmental education area, a planetarium, and an observation platform with panoramic views of the area around Lake Teganuma. Each offers a different focus: environmental education, the planetarium, and views of the landscape.
In the Abiko area, the Yatsu Museum preserves the Yatsu landforms and natural environment across 36.7 hectares in the Okabatto and Tsufube areas along Lake Teganuma.
The Tensen sculpture in the Abiko area connects art with the theme of lakes. Made of white Italian marble, it weighs 13 tonnes and was installed by Chiba Prefecture in 1994 to promote understanding of Teganuma’s cleanup and the role of lakes. It is 2.3 meters high, 1.75 meters wide, and 2.4 meters deep.
Two Walking Routes, Different Highlights
In the Abiko area, a walking route of about 4.5 kilometers links Naoya Shiga’s former residence with the former Murakawa Villa. It passes Teganuma Park and goes via Tenjinzaka to Tenjinyama Green Space, which offers views of Lake Teganuma. Tenjinzaka is a stone-paved staircase between Sanjusō, the former residence of Sōetsu Yanagi and his wife Kaneko, and Jigorō Kanō’s former country house in what is now Tenjinyama Green Space.
Another walking route in the Abiko area, about 4.3 kilometers long, starts at Abiko Station. It passes through the quiet residential neighborhood of Hakusan, by the former Kano Kōraku Garden, and over Fujimizaka and Hakusan Green Town, then follows the spring-water path and the slope trail along Funato Forest to Nedo-Funato Green Space and near Saneatsu Mushakōji’s former residence.
The two walking routes in the Abiko area are similar in length, at around 4.5 and 4.3 kilometers; their stops differ more than their distances. One links former residences with Teganuma Park and views of the lake. The other passes through Hakusan and by a garden, a spring-water path, a wooded slope, and a green space.
Discover more destinations: Togane, Futtsu, Kamogawa, Urayasu, Chosei, Sasagawai, Narita, Kashiwa
For the main travel overview: Chiba Prefecture.
