In the best-selling 19th-century guidebook, "Edo Meisho Zue (Famous Places of Edo)," there are many prints showing the picturesque scenery and ancient shrines in the vicinity of Oji in present-day Kita Ward. Robert Fortune, the Scottish botanist who was in Japan in 1860 and 1861, enjoyed his visit there, noting in his 1863 book "Yedo and Peking": "Here the good citizens of Yedo [sic] come out for a day's pleasure and recreation, and certainly it would be difficult to find a spot more lovely or more enjoyable."

Located on high ground overlooking the alluvial plain of the Ara River, where a stream called the Shakujii spills over waterfalls to join it, Oji was endowed with dramatic views and beautiful natural features. The scenic countryside -- where rice was grown from prehistoric times by villagers who erected a shrine to Inari, god of the rice harvest -- was enhanced by large-scale tree-planting in the 18th century by order of the shogun.

To attract sophisticates from central Edo some 8 km to the south, flowering cherries were planted on hilltops, maples in the valley, and restaurants were opened to entertain visitors. When the cherry trees matured and bloomed, the shogun gave hanami parties to celebrate the success of his green project.

The waterfalls along the Shakujii, called the Seven Waterfalls of Oji, became famous, too, and the 1830s woodcut print by Hasegawa Set- shown here depicts one of them, Fudo-no Taki. The dramatic rendition vividly conveys the sound and fury of plunging water breaking the silence of a moist, verdant world. In the foreground of the print, close to the river (also called the Otonashi locally), there are benches where travelers are resting and sipping tea served by an old woman.

The waterfall of Settan's print no longer exists, but others of the seven remain to delight us to this day. The ancient Inari shrine, meanwhile, prospered as the number of visitors from Edo increased, and it became Kanto's most important shrine to the god of the rice harvest. The illustration with last month's "Then & Now" showed travelers heading for there from Sugamo, following a signpost on the main highway. It's there to this day, atop a steep, wooded hill, just as it appeared in another print in the same book.

In the Meiji Era of modernization, Western-style paper-making began in Oji in 1874, exploiting the abundant river water. Some 70 years later, however, industrialization in the area made it a target for heavy U.S. wartime bombing. Despite this, vestiges of the scenic past still attract visitors to Oji to view the gorgeous cherry blossoms on Asukayama Hill and visit its historic sites.

Most visitors arrive on the JR Keihin Tohoku Line or the Namboku subway line, and in this late summer season it's best to start your walk on the Shakujii/Otonashi riverside. This is reached from the JR station's North Exit, or -- if you arrived on a tram from Sugamo Koshinzuka -- by crossing the footbridge near the tram stop to reach the other side of the JR tracks. After strolling along the riverside, climb the stone steps up to Oji-jinja Shrine, founded by a 14th-century warlord. The huge, 20-meter ginkgo tree on the left as you ascend was supposedly planted about 650 years ago, and is designated a natural monument by the metropolitan government.

In contrast, the shrine building is a postwar reconstruction whose spacious compound comes alive with crowds on festival days in August and December. Leaving the shrine's main gate, turn right and walk toward a pedestrian bridge. This road, formerly called Iwatsuki-kaido, traces an ancient route from Kamakura to northern Japan, crossing the Ara about 5 km north. After Edo became the capital in the 17th century, shoguns followed this road to visit Nikko where the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was buried and worshipped as the founding father of the Tokugawa regime.

For now, however, instead of following the route of shoguns' palanquins, turn right at the pedestrian bridge and descend the hill, passing a school on the left. Entering Oji Inari-jinja Shrine through its side entrance marked by many banners, you will see weathered stone monuments in the shade of old ginkgo, laurel and plane trees. A pair of sleek stone foxes here are dated 1764, and others less venerable have been donated by worshippers, since the fox is considered to be the guardian-cum- messenger of the god of Inari.

After you admire the beautiful main shrine dating back to 1808, a walk to the back brings you to its inner sanctum, imbued with a feeling of centuries of worship. At the top of the stone steps here is a hole burrowing into the hillside that has been retained from the original rudimentary shrine to fox spirits.

Inspired by a legend that foxes from all over Kanto gathered at the shrine on New Year's Eve to pay homage, local residents now organize a fox parade on the night the year turns over. Meeting at an enoki (hackberry) tree where it is believed the foxes dressed up for their shrine visit, hundreds of people parade to this shrine, each wearing a papier-mache fox mask, and some holding paper lanterns. As fox-faced folk arrive and jostle in the pitch dark of the shrine's compound, strange animistic feelings prevail while bonfires are lit and dances are performed on the stage. If you are feeling foxy at New Year's, this unique event starts from Shozoku Enoki at around 11 p.m. on Dec. 31.

A stone's throw from the shrine is the Nanushi-no Taki waterfall in what is now a public garden open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Originally created by Hatano Magohachi, the village head (nanushi) of Oji in the 1850s, the garden conceals a pond and four waterfalls in its verdant depths. Even before you enter its classical roofed gate, though, it exudes a sense of tranquillity conjured up by several beautiful rocks and a carpet of azuma nezasa (small-leafed bamboo; Pleioblastus chino). Inside, winding footpaths invite you to stroll through a tunnel of old chinquapins and beside a shallow stream to reach the Otaki, the largest waterfall, that cascades from high above in the woods. Many yama momiji (mountain maple, Acer palmatum var. Matsumura) here also promise a beautiful show of autumn colors in the months to come -- guaranteeing, I hope, an unforgettable visit to this beautiful place.