Local Secret · Nakai / Ochiai

Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall 新宿区立林芙美子記念館

The exquisite 1941 sukiya-style home of novelist Hayashi Fumiko in Nakai, designed with her own ideas for light and air, set in a bamboo and maple garden on a slope.

Hours10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00)

ClosedMondays (Tue if holiday), Dec 29–Jan 3

PriceAdult: ¥150

Getting thereNakai Station (Seibu Shinjuku / Oedo Line), 7 min

Time needed45 min

Best timeLate November; June

Address2-20-1 Nakai, Shinjuku City, Tokyo

About

Hayashi Fumiko, author of 'Diary of a Vagabond', built this house in 1941 after studying traditional architecture obsessively, and lived here until her death in 1951. It is a masterpiece of quiet domestic design: a study with a low window to the garden, a tea room, a beautiful kitchen and bathroom, and a garden of bamboo, maples and moss. You walk the garden and look into the rooms from the veranda; on certain days interior viewing is possible. In Nakai, a quiet hillside neighbourhood famous for its 'slope' streets and dye workshops, this is one of Tokyo's most beautiful and least visited houses.

Highlights

1941 sukiya-style house designed with the author
Bamboo, maple and moss garden on a hillside
Hayashi's study with its low garden window
Beautiful period kitchen and bath
Nakai's quiet slopes and textile-dyeing heritage

Tips

Closed Mondays (Tue if Mon is a holiday)
Late November for maples; June for green moss
Walk on to the Nakai 'Some-no-komichi' dyeing area along the Myoshoji River
Interior tours run on limited days, check ahead

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

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Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall 新宿区立林芙美子記念館

About

Highlights

Tips

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