Ikebukuro
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Image:Ikebukuro dsc04823.jpg Image:Ikebukuro dsc06027.jpg Image:Ikebukuro 28006.jpg Ikebukuro (池袋), a part of Toshima ward, is a large commercial and entertainment district of Tokyo, Japan. It is the location of the Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station and several extremely large department stores. It is located at Template:Coor dms.
At the center of Ikebukuro is the station. The station is shared by Japan Railways, the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and the Tojo Main Line. It is one of the main commuter hubs in the Yamanote area of western Tokyo. Ikebukuro Station is the busiest subway station in Japan and the second busiest railway station overall, second only to Shinjuku Station. Approximately one million people pass through the station each day.
Around the station are the Seibu and Tōbu department stores. East of the station, on the site of Sugamo Prison, stands Sunshine 60, which was Tokyo's tallest building at the time of its construction. Marui and Mitsukoshi also have department stores in the area. The prinicpal electronics retailer in Ikebukuro is Bic Camera.
The old village of Ikebukuro stood to the northwest of the station. Most of the area on which modern Ikebukuro is built was historically known as Sugamo. In the Taishō and Shōwa periods, the relatively low land prices attracted artists and foreign workers, who lent a somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere to Ikebukuro.
The kanji for Ikebukuro literally mean pond bag. Outside the west exit of Ikebukuro station near an entrance to the Yurakucho New Line is a small plaque explaining three origins of the name Ikebukuro. The first is that in the northeastern part of the village there was a lake shaped like someone holding a bag. The second is that there was once a large number of lakes in the area of various sizes (thus implying a bag full of lakes). The third is that long ago a turtle came out of the lake carrying a bag on its back.
There is a small statue of an owl located near the center of the city called Ikefukurō-zō (いけふくろう像), meaning lake owl statue. It may be a hint of the true origin of the name given to Ikebukuro, but it was more likely constructed as nothing more than a joke, a play on words and as a point of interest by the city administration.
The area which was once called Ikebukuro-mura (池袋村) became known simply as Ikebukuro in the 7th year of the Showa Period, 1932.