Overview

Join us for a walking tour around Kita-Senju and Shibamata, in the northeastern area of ​​Tokyo, where the atmosphere of old-town Tokyo is still going strong!

① After meeting at Senjuohashi Station, this tour will visit Adachi Market（8:00）

② Adachi Market（8:05-9:00）
Adachi Fish Market, the only specialized marine products market in Tokyo, will not be crowded with tourists, and you can enjoy fresh seafood and the atmosphere of a vibrant market. And unlike the somewhat jaded and overburdened feeling at Tsukiji, the wholesalers who work at Senju market are very friendly. Please do not hesitate to talk to them! After building up an appetite at the market, we’ll head to the on-site cafeteria and enjoy some fresh and tasty local seafood.

③ Shibamata station（9:25〜9:35）
Shibamata, our next destination, is a quick fifteen-minute train ride from Senjuohashi Station. Shibamata is a beautiful old-style town located on the banks of the Edogawa River in this northeastern part of Tokyo. Here you can immerse yourself in the pleasurable vibes of old Tokyo.
For Japanese people, Shibamata is also the fictional home of “Mr. Tora” from the fictional "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo” movie series. We’ll walk by Mr. Tora's bronze statue just outside Shibamata Station, then head towards Shibamata Taishakuten, a grand temple that is the local home of a famous Hindu deity.

④ Shibamata Taishakuten（9:40-10:40）
Amazing wood carved sculptures, covering the Lotus Sutra story, are tightly installed all around the main hall, and there is a stunning garden of ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arranging). The intricate, precise, and lively sculptures are wonderful works of art that are time immemorial.

⑤ Yamamoto-tei（10:30-11:00）
A two-story building in a combined style of Japanese and Western architecture, incorporating Western architectural elements into a tasteful shrine. The “Nagayamon” has an especially unique Western shape and style, and it is well worth seeking out. In the Japanese garden, there is the typical "Shogun Garden" design that uses a waterfall near the edge of the fence, with a dense green planting and a hill to make the waterfall look even more impressive and lush. The United States based Japanese garden specialty magazine "Sukiya Living" ranked this garden third best in Japan in its 2016 survey. This speaks to the very high reputation overseas as well.

⑥ Edogawa Riverbed（11:05〜11:20）
At the end of the tour, you climb the bank of the Edogawa that flows behind Yamamoto-tei, and from there you will see the distant Tokyo Sky Tree and the contrast of the new and old Tokyo, like a time warm linking the modern day to the 17th century style Edo style you have been walking around. Enjoy a real old town Tokyo experience that you simply cannot get a true taste of in the busier, central parts of Tokyo!

⑦ Taishakuten-Sando（11:30〜12:00）
Along the approximately 200 meters from Shibamata Station to Shibamata Taishakuten, we’ll get to explore a remarkably old-fashioned main street, with Japanese sweets shops, buckwheat noodle shops, all crammed together in a bustle like no other. There are also river fish restaurants with specialties such as eel and carp, and so much more. To say it is a lively street would not do it justice, but it is not so in the Asakusa or Shinjuku sense. Here you can enjoy the bustle at a more human scale and still feel calm.