Ikefukurou Statue

Ikefukuro or Ike-fukuro is a stone statue erected in September 1987. It was created because there was no outstanding meeting spot in the Inkebukuro Station when the JR (Japan Railways) was launched in March of the same year. Fukuro (an owl) is a pun on the ”bukuro” part of the word ”Ikebukuro.” Initially, the station staff tried to carve an owl out of wood, only to fail. They contracted the work to a masonry company in the Tochigi prefecture, which completed it. The history of the Ikebukuro area is inscribed on the post placed just behind the statue. In 2006, a new statue of three little owls was placed next to the original one. The three-little-owl statue was a generous donation from the 5th-grade class-1 pupils of the nearby Ikebukuro Dai-san (No. 3) Elementary School. Both statues are now popular as the ”parent and baby owls.” If you take the JR Ikebukuro Station North Exit and turn right following the sign ”Ikefukuro” in front of you, you will find the Ikefukuro statues. Alternatively, if you walk towards the Higashi-guchi (East) Exit from the Central Exit, turn left onto Cherry Road, and then continue, you will also find them. Either way takes about one minute.