RotW is my Railways of the Warrior project. Visiting all the Japanese train stations with Fuji in the name & the 12 castles with the original keep still standing wasn’t enough to satisfy my love of lists, so now I’m working through all the stations with Musashi in their name.
Click this link for more info.
Two for the price of one this week!
(As the station that was once Musashi-Iwai is nowadays a staff car park for a cement factory, there wasn’t a whole heap to say about it. Plus, the journey there started at Musashi-Itsukaichi so I figured I’d just put the two of them in here together.)
Name in kanji : 武蔵五日市
Kanji meaning: 5 day market?
Station opened : 21st April, 1925 (as Itsukaichi until June, 1925)
Trainlines: Itsukaichi
# Passengers daily : 4597
Distance from CityHillsAndSea HQ: 87km
Located in: Akiruno, Tokyo
Things to Do
The station’s main attraction is its functionality as an access point to the Akigawa Valley, which bears more than a passing resemblance to previous City Hills And Sea favourite, Ranzan Valley, near Musashi-Ranzan station.
So basically – a whole smorgasbord of outdoorsy activities.
And you can walk or take a bus to the site of Musashi-Iwai station.
All About Musashi-Itsukaichi Station
Itsukaichi as a station name has a pretty funky history, as it refers to a place that technically doesn’t exist any more.
Itsukaichi started off as a town in Kanagawa in 1889 before being handed over to the Tokyo government in 1893. All the way up until 1955 it was busy swallowing neighbouring villages and towns into its boundaries – such as Masuko – until it reached some kind of a critical mass; merging with Akigawa town to form the new town of Akiruno in 1995.
I wish it was possible to somehow discover how places generate their feel, their atmosphere… because this part of Akiruno had a really laidback vibe to it. I wish I’d had more to time to explore some of the historical sites signposted about the station, or even just to get out onto the trails and see some of the beautiful nature the area is famous for, but time was against me, sadly. The logistics of public transport in a little out of the way rural Japanese town didn’t help matters either.
I had a quick look around though, met some local characters:
Went down to the river, saw the local barbecue area which, if I’m being honest, isn’t as impressive as the one at Ranzan:
(Although Musashi-Ranzan station doesn’t have a stained glass window so maybe it all balances out.)
I promised myself I’d be back to do the trails, one day. Although, at this rate, the list of places I have still to visit is starting to look smaller than the places I want to revisit.
Station Rating
Itsukaichi, you’d better not let me down when I come back. 2 of those stars are for theoretical potential based on instinct and the maps in the station…
Musashi-Itsukaichi Station Gallery
Former Musashi-Iwai Station
Name in kanji : 武蔵岩井
Kanji meaning: rock well
Station opened : 20th September, 1925 (closed 1st February, 1971)
Trainlines: Itsukaichi
# Passengers daily : not a whole lot – freight mostly
Distance from CityHillsAndSea HQ: 61km
Located in: Hinode, Tokyo
It was a gorgeous spring day when I walked up here from Musashi-Itsukaichi. After ten minutes on an extremely busy main road, you can duck off up quiet side streets where you can hear birds sing and the gentle whoosh of the trees swaying in the breeze.
I was almost glad I’d missed the bus up here, to be honest.
(I would have preferred not to have missed the bus back, but eh – rural buses. One every two hours is actually pretty good going, if you ask me.)
Nowadays, nothing remains of this former freight station on the Itsukaichi line. There’s an information board, in what I assume is a staff car park for the cement factory on the hill behind it, which explains that the remaining bits of the station building were taken down in 2016.
Not a whole lot to see really, but on a sunny day such as this, it was quite pleasant to meander back to town and wonder about the route the former trainline would have taken.
Less magical than the discovery of a long dormant train under a bridge, but a fun trip to an abandoned train station all the same.
Station Rating
Let’s just say “not applicable” for this one, shall we?
Former Musashi-Iwai Station Gallery
CityHillsAndSea 
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