Muen-zaka, sloping road located in Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Muen-zaka is a paved road climbing from Ikenohata 1-chome in Taito Ward to Yushima 4-chome in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, running from Shinobazu Pond past the former Iwasaki Residence garden up to the University of Tokyo. The asphalt lane carries white markings, including a "30" outline, and a row of white stripes near the top of the slope. Short metal posts with round finials line the tiled sidewalk on the left, rectangular bollards the dark stone wall on the right.
The slope takes its name from Muen-ji, a temple that once stood beside it and is now known as Kōan-ji. It climbs from Ikenohata 1-chome in Taitō Ward to Yushima 4-chome in Bunkyō Ward, running past the former Iwasaki residence garden up to the University of Tokyo. The singer-songwriter Masashi Sada made it the subject of the 1975 Grape song "Muen-zaka".
The name comes from Muenzan-ji, a temple that once stood beside the slope and is now Kōan-ji. The slope itself is famous through Sada Masashi's 1975 song "Muen-zaka", which he wrote and composed for the duo Gurape, and through a manga by Satonaka Machiko.
Muen-zaka runs from Ikenohata 1-chome in Taito Ward up to Yushima 4-chome in Bunkyo Ward, climbing beside the former Iwasaki residence garden from Shinobazu Pond toward the University of Tokyo. The asphalt lane carries a painted "30" speed marking and a crosswalk near the top; a tiled sidewalk with short metal posts runs along the left edge, and rectangular bollards line the dark stone wall on the right.
The slope's name comes from Muen-ji, a temple that once stood beside it and is now known as Koan-ji. The road also gave its title to a 1975 song by the folk duo Grape, written and composed by Masashi Sada, and to a manga by Machiko Satonaka.
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