Shibamata | Tokyo weekend walks

I didn't even know about Shibamata until moving to Tokyo! But I've been doing a lot of research on blogs and instagram on places to go to on weekends, and that's how I found out about Shibamata!

Shibamata is about a 1hr train ride from central Tokyo and it's on the Northeast side of the city. The main attraction is this Sando (road leading up to a temple/shrine) that is in old traditional Edo style buildings which ends up taking you to Taishakuten Temple. So imagine Sensoji but even more historical looking.

Another thing to know about Shibamata is that it became famous as the filming location of a film series called "It's tough being a man" featuring the main character Tora-san (Actor: Kiyoshi Atsumi). So you can see statues, old posters and even a museum of Tora-San all around Shibamata.

Two key shops to look out for:

1. Haikara Yokocho: toy shop

This is a super old-school and nostalgic toy shop that sells all kinds of toys. They even have a row of pinball machines!

2. Kameya Honpo: Dango and Lunch

This shop is close to the end of the Sando right before Taishakuten Temple on the right hand side. They sell many flavors of delicious Dango (rice dumpling dessert) and also has a small restaurant behind it which is kid friendly and has amazing food.

Taishakuten temple itself is also really interesting! They have a lot of super unique Omikujis (fortunes) for example a Thomas one and one that's shaped like a fan, and they also have interesting Omamoris (good luck charms). They especially have Omamoris for all type of sports such as football, basketball, badminton, golf, and so on.