Todoroki Valley

The Yazawa River has cut a ravine about a kilometre long and ten metres deep through the Musashino terrace in Setagaya, and it is the only valley of its kind inside the Tokyo wards. A path follows the stream from the red Golf Bridge down to Todoroki Fudo temple, under bamboo, maple and a canopy dense enough that the temperature at the bottom is noticeably lower than the street above. The illusion is not total - traffic is audible, and the surrounding houses are visible through the trees in places - but the drop of ten metres does most of the work. At the lower end are a small waterfall used for ascetic practice, a Japanese garden on the slope, the temple with a terrace teahouse, and a seventh-century burial mound cut into the bank. It takes an hour, and it is best on a weekday.

What you actually see

• Tokyo's only ravine - a kilometre of stream cut ten metres into the terrace.
• Dense shade - bamboo and maple keeping the valley floor cooler than the street.
• The Fudo temple - a waterfall used for ascetic practice and a terrace teahouse.
• A burial mound - a seventh-century tomb cut into the valley side.

When to go

April to November; late November for maples. An hour, on a weekday.

Honest expectations

It is short and narrow, and weekend crowds fill the single path. Traffic noise carries down into the valley. The stream is not clean. Sections close after heavy rain for landslip risk.

Nearby

Jiyugaoka is north; Futako-Tamagawa is west along the river.