“Higashimurayama Ondo” and Ken Shimura — the story of how the town's name went national

✿It began with a song marking the city's founding

“Higashimurayama Ondo” is an ondo (a local folk-dance song) created in 1963 to mark Higashimurayama becoming a city. It was planned out of a wish for a local folk song that could hold its own against the famous “Tokyo Ondo.” The original was sung by Michiya Mihashi and others and released on record. It was, at heart, a Bon-dance song for this town and its people.

✿Ken Shimura took the town's name nationwide

The man who made this town's name famous nationwide was Ken Shimura, a Higashimurayama native. In 1976, in the “Boys and Girls Choir” segment of The Drifters' hit variety show “Hachiji Dayo! Zenin Shugo,” Shimura performed his own arrangement of “Higashimurayama Ondo.” Singing and dancing in a unique costume, he captivated children across the country. And so “Higashimurayama” became a place name people all over Japan could hum.

✿And the town answered Ken Shimura

To Shimura, who carried the town's name across Japan, Higashimurayama has answered in tangible form. At the station's east exit, the “Ken Shimura tree,” a zelkova (the city tree), was planted in 1976, and a zelkova-lined avenue grew up. Then, in June 2021, a statue of Ken Shimura in his “Aiin” pose was unveiled in front of the station. The statue was supported by crowdfunding, drawing more than 32 million yen. The story of a town and a man, begun with a single ondo, still continues in front of the station today.

✿Visiting his haunts — the tastes Shimura is said to have loved

Beyond the statue and the “Ken Shimura tree,” the town has several places said to have been loved by Shimura. Visiting them as a kind of pilgrimage is a nice idea too (all of this is what fans, news reports and guides relate, not established fact. Shops' opening days and locations can change, so check each shop's or the official information).

Incidentally, Shimura graduated from Higashimurayama Municipal Daini (No. 2) Junior High School. He is said to have performed comedy sketches at school festivals from his junior-high days. The school is not a sightseeing spot, but you can sense that the talent that would later make the whole nation laugh first took root in this town.