The setting of the manga “Ashita no Joe” is undergoing drastic change..! Close-up report on the changing workers’ town “Yamaya
High-rise condominiums loomed over the area.
I was surprised when I visited the site for the first time in four years.
A 13-story condominium building rises above the former cluster of simple lodging houses, and the parking lot is full of construction vehicles. Large trucks came and went along the narrow streets, and the existing old buildings would probably be demolished sooner or later.
The area is called “Yamaya,” which consists of Kiyokawa River, Nihon Tsutsumi, and Higashi Asakusa in Taito Ward, Tokyo. Since the Edo period (1603-1867), the area has been home to “wooden inns” where people stayed overnight without meals, and in the Showa period (1926-1989), it became famous as a town for day laborers. Recently, however, the appearance of Yamaya is about to change drastically.
Don’t destroy the “do-ya! Don’t build condominiums in Yamaya!”
It was in January of this year that the voices of opposition to the construction of high-rise condominiums resounded in this town. About 30 staff members supporting the workers marched in a demonstration. Surrounded by about 80 policemen, they chanted sprechkolls.
My first visit to the Yamaya was about 13 years ago. It was when I covered a medical visit. Since then, I have talked to workers living in the valley from time to time, and even helped out at a soup kitchen on New Year’s Eve.
In the past, actors who supported the workers would take to the streets on New Year’s Eve to put on a play to entertain them. In addition, they would cook hot New Year’s Eve soba noodles in a pot and serve them to the workers. However, the COVID-19 crisis changed the situation. The plays where people were crowded together were cancelled to prevent infection, and the New Year’s Eve soba was replaced by cup noodles,” said a worker support staff member.
New apartments began to be built one after another in Yamaya ……. A man in his 50s, who lives in a simple lodging house while receiving public assistance, laments, “The Yamatani is a place where the cartoon “Tomorrow’s Soba Noodles.
Yamaya was the setting for the comic book “Ashita no Joe” (Tomorrow’s Joe), and before Corona, the area was lively with workers coming from all over the country. But recently there are fewer festivals, plays, and other events, and the 300-meter-long arcade of the “Irohakai Shopping Street,” which has been in existence since the Taisho era (1912-1926), was removed a few years ago. …… The reason is said to be aging and disaster prevention, but there is no longer a place for people living on the street to shelter from the wind and rain,” he said.
The few remaining guesthouses are about to be transformed into new guesthouses for inbound travelers.
The Bureau of Social Welfare of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been working on a project called the “Tokyo Metropolitan Government Comprehensive Project Plan for the Yamatani Area. The plan aims to improve the local environment. The plan includes the following “direction of measures”.
The face of the Yamaya area is changing dramatically as new residents move into the area due to the increase in the number of new condominiums. In light of this background, we will work to improve the environment of the Yamatani area, including environmental beautification activities.
Koichiro Mukai, a member of the Yamatani Workers’ Welfare Hall Activities Committee, is indignant.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is only talking nicely. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is only talking nicely,” said Koichiro Mukai, a member of the Yamatani Workers’ Welfare Hall Activities Committee, angrily. That is the reality of the valley today.
The “workers’ town” is being transformed into a “residential area” lined with condominiums.
From the May 29, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY
December ’19. On New Year’s Eve, after the workers finished their supper from the soup kitchen, a street play was started by actors who supported them
December ’25. The street plays were cancelled to prevent the transmission of the new coronavirus. The simple lodging house on the left in the photo above has been cleared.
The streetscape of Yamaya, where there were many low buildings, in July ’13.
A 13-story apartment building was built in the same area (July ’25)
A two-story simple lodging house taken in January ’19
Three months later, demolition work began and apartments were built
The site where three simple lodging houses were located (December ’25)
A 12-story apartment building is scheduled for completion in August ’27 (March ’26)
A parade advertising the Yamaya Summer Festival (August ’15)
The atmosphere has changed dramatically with the construction of an apartment building on the left (February ’26)
Making New Year’s Eve soba noodles (New Year’s Eve ’15)
Due to the lack of manpower of the supporters, the soba noodles are now cup noodles (New Year’s Eve, ’25)
A worker with a cup in his pocket (’15 January)
His regular lodging also became an apartment (February ’26)
PHOTO & WRITING： Yasuko Funamoto (FRIDAY photographer)