Enjoy the world of "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" and the romance of the old town. Recommended sightseeing courses in Shibamata

Shibamata, the town that loves Tora-san

Katsushika Shibamata is located on the banks of the Edogawa River in the northeast of Tokyo. It is known as the setting for the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" series, and when director Yoji Yamada and others were searching for a suitable location for the story, they were drawn to Katsushika Shibamata for its rich nature, streetscapes that symbolize the era, and the warm-hearted lives of the people who live there, full of obligation and humanity. The scenery is still carefully preserved, and on February 13, 2018, it was the first area in Tokyo to be designated as a National Important Cultural Landscape.

Shibamata Station on the Keisei Kanamachi Line can be reached in about 40 minutes from Tokyo Station and about 50 minutes from Shinjuku Station. As soon as you pass through the ticket gates at Shibamata Station, you will be greeted by the statue of "Tora-san the Vagabond." It was erected in 1999 and depicts Tora-san standing before his departure, gazing back at his hometown of Shibamata.

In fact, it is said that touching the statue's left foot brings good luck. The reason for this can be seen by looking at the Tora-san monument attached to the sign above the entrance to the Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Memorial Museum. The sandals on the right foot have fallen to the ground, but the left foot has not, so before long the idea that "if you touch the left foot, it will not fall off = it is good luck" has come to be said.

Behind the statue of "Tora the Vagabond" is the "Sakura Statue Seeing Off," which was erected in 2017. As this is a photo spot that symbolizes Shibamata, there is always a crowd around the statue after noon. If you want to take your time taking photos, the best time to go is in the morning when there are still fewer people around.

Enjoy yakisoba at Mikawaya, a restaurant loved by locals

Well, when it comes to sightseeing in Shibamata, gourmet food is an essential part of the experience. First, we visited "Mikawaya," located right in front of Shibamata Station. This is a familiar restaurant for locals, with a constant stream of customers coming in to order their signature dishes, yakisoba and imagawayaki, for takeout.

"Come in! Sit wherever you like!" I was lured into the restaurant by the cheerful voice of the mother. I ordered the mother's recommended fried noodles with meat (400 yen). A huge amount of noodles was cooked, covering the entire hot plate. The smell of the savory sauce always whets the appetite, and my stomach started rumbling...

The thing being made on the hot plate next to them is Imagawayaki (110 yen). There are seven different kinds in total. The classics like red bean paste and cream are popular, but the unique tomato chicken curry is also popular.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the yakisoba arrived in a white bowl. The noodles were medium-thin and slightly soft, topped with cabbage, corn, and large pieces of pork. The sweet sauce was all over the dish, and it was delicious. Since I was hungry, I ate it all in no time.

*Business hours and holidays are subject to change.

If you go straight ahead with the statue of "Tora the Vagabond" in the background, you will see the approach to Shibamata Taishakuten Temple. The old-fashioned streetscape that continues from the Edo period spreads out before you, with shops selling dango (rice dumplings), rice crackers, and other items lined up on both sides.

Dango and senbei are now familiar Shibamata specialties, but their origins date back to the Edo period. At the time, farmers around Shibamata milled the leftover rice from their taxes into flour (joshinko) and stored it. This flour was kneaded and steamed to make dango, and kneaded and baked to make senbei.

Dango and senbei were eaten as side dishes or at festivals, but in the latter half of the Edo period, as more people came to worship at Taishakuten, dango and senbei began to be served as Shibamata specialties at rest areas, and they became a staple. In particular, in spring, kusadango (rice cakes made with mugwort picked from the banks of the Edogawa River) became popular.

When it comes to Kusadango in Shibamata, the place to go is Takagiya, a long-established shop with 150 years of history.

Takagiya Osho, a dumpling shop that was founded 150 years ago, is also one of those historic stores. This place was used as a dressing room for "Otoko wa Tsurai yo," and you can see precious photos and memorabilia from the time of filming that are displayed on the walls inside the store. "It's cold today, isn't it? Please have some hot tea with us. Please take your time," the owner's words make you happy, and the atmosphere makes you want to stay for a while.

I imagine that Atsumi Kiyoshi also ate the dango from Takagiya Osho during his break, and as I sit in a chair in front of the shop, I enjoy their famous Kusadango (170 yen per dango to eat on the go, 400 yen for 5 dangos if using the cafe). The specialty is the mochi, made by kneading high-moisture Koshihikari rice flour with fresh mugwort. The chewy texture is complemented by the refreshing aroma of mugwort. It also goes perfectly with the lightly sweet bean paste made from Hokkaido-grown azuki beans. There are also tables inside the shop, so you can relax and unwind.

Tachibana Senbei Shop: Enjoy traditional hand-baked rice crackers

Next, we went to Tachibana Senbei-ten, a 120-year-old shop, to try rice crackers, a Shibamata specialty that rivals the kusa dango. They use the traditional method of baking each cracker by hand, and you can see the process in front of the store. The flat, pure white crackers are baked on a wire rack, puffing up and taking on a nice brown color. They say that careful baking gives them a fragrant, deep flavor.

From the over 15 varieties of rice crackers available, I chose the soy sauce flavored firm rice crackers (130 yen), which are only available in winter. Compared to the regular rice crackers, they are so thick that they take five times longer to bake, and the dough stretches in summer, so they are only made in winter. The generous owner gave me a nice surprise: "Since you've come all this way, please try the regular rice crackers as well. They're delicious, so it's a special service." They have a crunchy texture and a slightly strong soy sauce flavor, which seems to go well with alcohol.

Freshly baked fluffy Torayaki "Ishii"

Our walk along Shibamata Taishakuten Sando is drawing to a close. Our final stop is Ishii, which was founded 157 years ago. Originally a kimono shop, the tea and sweets and pickles it offered to its regular customers as hospitality became popular, and it reopened as a tea shop after the war. It is also the oldest wooden store on Shibamata Taishakuten Sando, and is known as a valuable example of Edo-period merchant architecture.

There were over 50 kinds of pickles lined up in front of the store, and I took advantage of their kindness to try a variety of them. The most popular was the "Miso Ginger" (650 yen). The staff member said, "It's good on rice, and it's also delicious stir-fried with meat," and I couldn't help but loosen my wallet.

If you're lucky, you can even watch the famous "Tora-yaki" being made. The dough is evenly placed on the hot plate. The dough is skillfully turned over, and you can tell it's fluffy even just by watching from a distance. There are several different flavors, including red bean paste, ice cream, fresh cream, and seasonal fruit.

"Yes, yes, eat it while it's hot!" said the mother. The smile of the shop assistant, overflowing with love and wanting customers to eat something delicious, warmed our hearts as well. Torayaki is only baked once or twice a day, and the time varies depending on the day, so if you're lucky you can eat it freshly baked.

I took a bite of the branded "Tora-yaki". The dough was surprisingly soft, with a gentle sweet egg flavor and a refreshing, not-too-sweet red bean paste that had just the right balance. Other popular items include kuzumochi, rice rice rolls, and potato yokan, so be sure to check them out too.

"Yamamototei" - Enjoy matcha tea while admiring the world-renowned Japanese garden

Now that we've had a taste of Shibamata's hospitality and our hearts and stomachs are full, we head to our next destination, Yamamototei. Built at the end of the Taisho period as an old-fashioned Japanese building in the Shoin-style, the building was given a Western touch when it was expanded and renovated. The result is a beautiful mansion that combines modern Japanese architecture with a purely Japanese garden in a unique harmony that can't be found anywhere else. Admission is 100 yen per person.

The best part of Yamamototei is its beautifully maintained Shoin garden. In a ranking survey conducted by the American Japanese garden magazine, The Journal of Japanese Gardening, in 2018, it was ranked 4th out of more than 900 gardens nationwide, and it is said to be a popular destination for tourists from overseas.

The lighting, window glass, stained glass, etc. are all the same as they were back then. Window glass in particular is valuable and difficult to manufacture, as the number of craftsmen has drastically decreased.

You can also order from the cafe menu, and enjoy matcha tea shipped from Kyoto and Takagiya Osho's Nerikiri while looking out at the garden in a Japanese-style room bathed in beautiful sunlight. There were few people there in the morning when the museum first opened, and it was very quiet. You could hear the sound of water trickling from the garden, and the sunlight was warm. It was a special space that made me feel like I had traveled back in time to old-fashioned Japan.

You can learn everything about "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" at the "Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Memorial Museum"

Now, let's head to the final destination of our Shibamata trip, the Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Memorial Museum. It's a two-minute walk from the Nagayamon gate of Yamamototei. The landmark is a signboard depicting Tora-san, which is said to be the secret behind the left leg of the "Tora the Vagabond" statue. Here, the sets, props, and valuable materials from "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" are on display, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the world of "Otoko wa Tsurai yo."

This is the set of Tora-san's family home, "Kuruma-ya," that was actually used in the filming. Even the smallest details, like the chopsticks on the table, the ashtray, and the cash register, have been carefully recreated, and when you look up, you can see the cameraman in the middle of his work. It really brings home to you how filming took place.

Next is a corner that recreates the "Asahi Printing Company" of President Octopus. Famous scenes with President Octopus and his employees as well as a real letterpress printing machine are on display. There is also a vague smell of ink in the air.

And in the "I was born and raised in Katsushika Shibamata" corner, a perspective-based reproduction of the streets along the approach to Taishakuten in the 1950s, when Tora-san lived. The miniature-sized model is so detailed that you have to bend down to look at it closely. There is also a fun mechanism that lets you hear the sounds of merchants shouting and the hustle and bustle of the city.

The Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Memorial Museum is packed with things to see. Next door is the Yamada Yoji Museum, where you can enjoy Director Yamada Yoji's passion for filmmaking, so it's fun to take your time and look around.

This walk from Shibamata Station, through Taishakuten-san-do, to the Tora-san Memorial Museum was just a few hours away, but it was a great way to feel the history and humanity of Shibamata. There were plenty of spots that were enjoyable not only for fans of "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" but also for those who have not yet seen the show. Why not give it a go?