Shibamata Taishakuten Approach
柴又帝釈天 参道 · Shibamata Taishakuten Approach
- Ward
- Katsushika
- Price
- Free; the carving gallery and garden are charged separately
- Hours
- Approach shops about 09:00–17:
- Closed
- Open daily
- Getting there
- 3 min walk from Keisei Shibamata Stn
- Founded
- 1629
- The approach is lined with kusa-dango shops
- Toraya, founded 1887, played Tora-san's family home in the first four Otoko wa Tsurai
- The carved Lotus Sutra scenes on the gate and main hall are the real substance here
We do not republish copyrighted photographs. Use the links below to see the actual venue.
Obvious to locals, invisible to visitors
There is a simple reason guidebooks leave this out: to the people who live here it is too obvious to be worth explaining.
The approach is lined with kusa-dango shops — Takagiya, Toraya, Yoshinoya — and the local way is to buy one skewer at each and compare. Around ¥150 a stick. Toraya grills its version only at weekends and holidays.
Toraya, founded 1887, played Tora-san's family home in the first four Otoko wa Tsurai yo films. It was renamed from Shibamataya in 1989, and the staircase and old posters are still there.
The carved Lotus Sutra scenes on the gate and main hall are the real substance here. The grounds are free but the carving gallery and garden are ticketed. Behind the temple sit Yamamoto-tei and the Tora-san museum.
Walk past the shops to the Edogawa and you will find the Yagiri ferry still running — one of the last in Tokyo. At weekends the floodplain fills with junior baseball practice.
What it is
Katsushika is a ward where Shibamata and old-fashioned warmth remain. Midday and dusk leave completely different impressions. Come at the wrong hour and it is just an ordinary block. Toilets are far off. Sort that out at a station or park beforehand. Arrive at opening and seating is no issue — though turnover is brisk, so lingering is hard. Map apps drift in the narrow lanes; for the last hundred metres, look for the sign instead. The more times someone has been to Tokyo, the longer they tend to stay in places like this.
What to order
Why locals keep coming
It costs nothing, so it fits any itinerary regardless of budget. It is closer to seeing the city's reverse side — nothing like a manicured observation deck.