Shibamata Taishakuten and its street

photo by 福原邦展 · CC BY 3.0

photo by Aimaimyi · CC BY-SA 3.0

In 2018 it became the first national cultural landscape in the whole of Tokyo.

The street leading to the temple is short and still made up of real shops: rice cakes pounded on the spot, senbei, eel restaurants. Behind it there are still farmhouses and other temples, because until recently this was countryside, not a suburb.

Shibamata lies at the eastern edge of Tokyo, on the right bank of the Edo River, and has been a transit hub since ancient times. The temple dates from the early Edo period, and at the end of the eighteenth century the discovery of a wooden statue drew pilgrims from all over the city; then the railway arrived, the crowds grew, and by the beginning of the Shōwa period the approach street had taken the compact form it still has. On 13 February 2018 the whole area was selected as a cultural landscape of national importance, the first in Tokyo.

ℹ️ The street is public and open at any hour; the shops keep their own hours. From Shibamata Station, Keisei Kanamachi Line. Check the temple's opening hours on the official website.

🚉 Shibamata · 7 min walk

Sources: kunishitei.bunka.go.jp · museum.city.katsushika.lg.jp · zipangu.it

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