Hyotan (gourd) Pond was filled in in 1951, and Hatsune Koji (first chirp alley) was created on its former site in 1958—three years after the Asakusa Underground Mall was established. Originally, it is said that wisteria trellises covered the alley, but they were removed in 2022.
The name of Hatsune Koji in Yanaka originates from the fact that the area was once called “Hatsune no Mori” (a forest of the first chirp), where bush warblers (uguisu) sang. This is also related to the place name Uguisudani (i.e., a valley where bush warblers are singing). While the Hatsune Koji in Yanaka grew out of a postwar black market, the one in Asakusa was likely modeled after it. At the time, people must have been able to hear the first chirps of the bush warblers in the adjacent Hanayashiki amusement park, Denpo-in Temple, and the grounds of Senso-ji Temple. Even today, Senso-ji Temple remains the landlord of the cozy shops lined up here.
Daruma is one such shop where you can still feel the atmosphere of the postwar black market. The owner is from Okinawa and performs a dance at the Asakusa Samba Carnival every year.