San'ya
San'ya (山谷, San'ya) is an area in the Taitō district of Tokyo, located south of the Namidabashi intersection, around the Yoshino-dori. A neighborhood named "San'ya" existed until 1966, but the area was renamed and split between several neighborhoods.
It is a region with a distinct culture, an area of crowded, cheap rooming houses where day laborers live.
San'ya dates to the Edo period. Lower caste workers, butchers, tanners, leatherworkers, and the like, were forced to live in this undesirable region by the predominantly Buddhist authorities. It has retained its association with both lower class workers and with craftsmen. Within the past few years gentrification has begun to encroach on the area.
In recent years, some of the rooming houses have converted to provide cheap accommodation for foreign backpackers.
Summary
Since the Edo period, Kichinyado (木賃宿, a type of cheap lodging house that does not serve meals) have been located along the sides of the Ōshū Kaidō and the Nikkō Kaidō routes (two of the five main Edo period routes). To this day, there are many of these simple lodging establishments in areas where day laborers assemble. Throughout Japan, these lodging establishments are called “doya.” Prior to 1966, the address of this area was Taito-Ward, Asakusa, Sanya 1~4 Chome, but due to a government program enforcing the renaming of displayed address across Japan, the name “Sanya” faded away.