Shibamata for a slower, older Tokyo trip

If you follow my posts, you know I have a penchant for retro spots in the Kanto region. I gravitate to spots that have vestiges of the Showa era back to the Edo era. These spots ooze with charm.

Recently, a visitor from abroad asked me for a timewarp experience that is quieter and slower-paced. She’s already experienced the frenetic tourist draws such as Shibuya and Shinjuku. So I took her to Shibamata, the overlooked and cozy neighborhood in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.

She was immediately charmed by the tiny station on the Keisei Kanamachi line which has a single track. Riders going in the other direction have to walk over the tracks to take the train going north.

Right outside there is a statue commemorating the actor Kiyoshi Atsumi, star of “Otoko wa Tsurai yo”. The movie series set in the Shibamata neighborhood holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running movie series featuring the same actor in the starring role.

If you haven't seen the movies, you can watch many clips on YouTube of the traveling salesman's thwarted love affairs and family drama. There's a museum on the bank of the Edo River to celebrate the series, too.

Taishakuten Sando, the street that leads from Shibamata Station to Taishakuten, the Nichiren Buddhist temple, is short - you could walk between the two locations in less than five minutes - but there is a lot of atmosphere to soak up. The route is lined with old-fashioned sweets shops, pickle vendors, and soba and unagi restaurants.

Our walk took us back in time and we paid our respects at Taishakuten as the priest rang the noon bell. The temple is famed for its exquisite wood carvings of scenes from Buddhist sutras and is surrounded by one of Tokyo's classic Japanese gardens, Suikeien.

We finished our trip at Yamamoto-tei, the elegant tea house nearby. You can sip a cup of tea while gazing at the house's garden.

This has to be one of my favorite east Tokyo neighborhoods. It can get crowded on weekends but it's mostly overlooked by international tourists.

What's your favorite time travel spot in Tokyo? What overlooked neighborhoods do you recommend there?