Exploring Japanese Landmarks in Nishiki-e and Photographs

Surugadai

This area used to be called Kandadai, however after the Genna Era (1615-24), retainers of the Tokugawa Clan moved here from Suruganokuni, and it came to be called Surugadai. The top provided a good view of Mount Fuji in Suruga, so there is a theory that this is the origin of the name of the area. The entire area was a soil borrowing pit, and the soil taken from the plateau was used to landfill Nihonbashi and Shibashi. In addition, the Kanda-gawa River was dug between here and Hongodai. From the Meiji Era, the former sites of the residences of the direct samurai retainers of the Tokugawa shogunate were used to construct Meiji University, Nihon University and Chuo University, and the area became a students' quarter.