TATEISHI

Tateishi is a neighborhood in Katsushika Ward on the eastern side of the Arakawa River locating on the edge of the metropolis Tokyo. The area is packed with nostalgic decrepit shopping streets. The area retains an atmosphere associated with Tokyo's shitamachi (commoners area) old-fashioned neighborhoods. Visitors here will fall into an illusion that they are back to the time and place some 50 years ago. Tateishi Nakamise, an old-fashioned shopping street near the railway Keisei-Tateishi station was started soon after World War II. At the market are sold cheap vegetables, grilled yakitori and squids, drinking houses etc. Until around 1980, Tateishi was home to numerous small, family-owned factories. Today many of these have closed and small apartment houses now occupy many of their former sites.

Access: Tateishi Station on Keisei Line from Ueno.

KATSUSHIKA TRADITIONAL CRAFTS BUILDING

In Katsushika-ku, there still exist many craftsmen succeeding the traditional skills since the time of Edo era and Meiji period. They examine natural materials closely with the inherited perceptions cultivated by longtime practices and produce traditional industrial art objects making full use of the traditional skills for the present and the future. At the hall, traditional crafts produced in Katsushika-ku are displayed and sold on the spot.

Website: http://www.dentosangyokan.com/
Open: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (closed Mon. and Tue.)
Admission: free
Address: 7-3-16 Tateishi, Katsushika-ku
Access: 5 minutes walk from Tateishi Station on Keisei Line
Telephone: 03-5671-8288