To slough off winter sluggishness and get into step with spring, I set a course from Seijo Gakuen-mae on the Odakyu Line to Jidayubori Minkaen — a compound of late-Edo Period (1860s) thatched farmhouses in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward — and ending at Futako Tamagawa Station, about 4 km away as the crow flies.
I don't fly. In fact, less than 100 paces into the journey I'm waylaid by the aroma of baking bread drifting out from old-fashioned patisserie Prairial Seijo. Pink mousses decorated with sakura blossoms, peaked Mont Blanc cakes, and a so-called Bavarois Natur speckled with Madagascar vanilla flecks are all tempting, but too delicate to survive a hike. I buy a loaf of sweet brioche instead.
Back on track, the pretty suburban road from Prairial Seijo tilts downward toward Tokyo's natural southern border with Kanagawa Prefecture, the Tama River. The going is pleasant but nondescript until I reach Seijo Sanchome Park, perched on a bluff overlooking the alluvial plains of Setagaya and offering breathtaking views of Mount Fuji. The downhill path is punctuated by wooden cradles of moldering leaves built by elementary school students to provide habitat for rhinoceros beetles.
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