Shibamata is the traditional neighborhood of Tora-san of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo movies series. There’s a statue of him there, a beautiful temple, the Shibamata Taishakuten Temple, and it also has a great “traditional neighborhood” feeling. It’s a very popular place to visit for Japanese. And on weekends there is a direct bus right from the corner where I live to Shibamata! So yesterday we visited. Here are some photos to give you an idea of how the place feels.

There aren’t many foreigners there, especially since the Covid pandemic, and a lot of shopkeepers went out of their way to say, “Have a nice day!” to me in English.