In the best-selling 19th-century guidebook, "Edo Meisho Zue (Famous Places of Edo)," there are many prints showing the picturesque scenery and ancient shrines in the vicinity of Oji in present-day Kita Ward. Robert Fortune, the Scottish botanist who was in Japan in 1860 and 1861, enjoyed his visit there, noting in his 1863 book "Yedo and Peking": "Here the good citizens of Yedo [sic] come out for a day's pleasure and recreation, and certainly it would be difficult to find a spot more lovely or more enjoyable."

Located on high ground overlooking the alluvial plain of the Ara River, where a stream called the Shakujii spills over waterfalls to join it, Oji was endowed with dramatic views and beautiful natural features. The scenic countryside -- where rice was grown from prehistoric times by villagers who erected a shrine to Inari, god of the rice harvest -- was enhanced by large-scale tree-planting in the 18th century by order of the shogun.

To attract sophisticates from central Edo some 8 km to the south, flowering cherries were planted on hilltops, maples in the valley, and restaurants were opened to entertain visitors. When the cherry trees matured and bloomed, the shogun gave hanami parties to celebrate the success of his green project.