Cycling, historic pottery firing, and traditional festivals offer different perspectives on Inagi. The landscape also tells a story of change: alongside walking paths and parks, the cityscape includes an irrigation channel with a long history. When planning your trip, you can choose how much to focus on culture, exercise, and nature.
Cycling and Sports History
In Inagi City, the Tama River Cycling Course and the Minami-Tama Ridge Main Road offer opportunities for cycling. The city attracts cyclists from both within and outside the area. To help you choose a route, the cycling map “Inagi Potari Biyori” features four courses, from beginner-friendly routes to more challenging rides. This gives you a concrete reference for gauging the level of challenge you want.
Inagi also has a historical connection to road cycling. The road cycling events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games passed through Inagi City. The Tokyo Tama 2020 Legacy Road was part of the Olympic cycling event and was recognized as a model route under GOOD CYCLE JAPAN in August 2024. Eight cities, including Inagi City, were involved in the partnership established for this purpose. These milestones distinguish the history of the race from the route’s later recognition.
Kiln, Museum, and Traditional Festivals
The Kawarayato Kiln Site in Daimaru was a Nara-period kiln site known for roof tiles fired for Musashi Kokubunji. In the History Exhibition Room 1 of the Inagi City Local History Museum, visitors can see tiles actually fired at the Daimaru kiln, as well as a scale model of the kiln. The historic site and the exhibits offer two different ways to learn about the history of tile firing.
The Edo Satokagura of the Yamamoto troupe also connects local tradition with a long history. It is said to have been founded in 1373 by Yamamoto Gonritsu-shi Hironobu; Yamamoto Yorinobu is the 19th head of the family. The troupe is one of four Edo Satokagura troupes passed down in Tokyo that are designated Important Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan.
Annual festival traditions include the snake-weaving event at Myoken-son in Momura on August 7, and lion dances held on different dates: at the Anazawa Ten Shrine in Yanokuchi on August 25, and at Aoi Shrine in Higashinaganuma on October 1. For the snake-weaving event, seven people selected from among former village residents are said to gather reeds. Members of the support association weave them into a snake about 100 to 150 meters long, which is laid at the torii gate and along the stone steps below Myoken-son. The tradition is said to have begun in 1662. The different dates provide clear calendar references, while the event’s process brings the tradition to life.
Green Paths and Inagi Pears
Musashino woodland has been preserved in Inagi Central Park. Walking paths run through the woods and are used for strolls and health promotion. Another story of the landscape is told by the Daimaru Irrigation Channel, maintained since the Edo period and running from Inagi City toward Noborito in Kawasaki City. Its role in agricultural irrigation is gradually declining: sections that are no longer needed are partly filled in, while others have more recently been turned into riverside parks. The channel is managed by the Daimaru Irrigation Land Improvement District, established in August 1952.
Pears are a seasonal local specialty. During pear season, orchards in Inagi City sell various varieties directly, attracting many visitors from outside the city. Cultivation is said to have begun about 300 years ago, during the Genroku era. Masuoka Heiemon, a village official from Nagano Village, and Kawashima Sajiuemon brought saplings of the “Awayuki” variety back from a trip to Yamashiro, now in the southeastern part of Kyoto Prefecture, and planted them. Visiting Inagi during pear season is also a chance to learn about the connection between regional agriculture and its history.
Discover more destinations: Fuchu, Oshima, Fussa, Hachijo, Meguro, Koganei, Taito, Chofu.
For the main travel guide: Tokyo.
