This Saturday we went to Shibamata in Tokyo. My girlfriend likes the film series, Otoko wa Tsurai yo, staring Tora-san which takes place there. The plot, from what I can tell seems to be almost the same for each movie. The main character comes home to Shibamata, gets into woman trouble and then leaves again to continue his wanderings. The films started in 1969 and continued into the 90s. They made 49 films in the series and the 50th is coming out this year starring the remaining living characters (not the actor who played Tora who died in the mid 90s).
Shibamata is a nice quiet place, there's the main street leading from the station to the temple which is very old and was where the fictional Tora-san lived.
A little further on, near the river, which appeared in the films too, is the Tora-san museum.
On the river you can go on a little boat trip from the Shibamata side (Tokyo) to the Chiba side, it looked a bit boring though so we didn't do that.
The museum costs 500 yen and is pretty interesting in of itself, and especially if you like the films.
The famous temple is free, there's a garden which I think was 400 yen. You should try the dangos (rice cake sweets) in the town and, of course, see the statues at the station.
All in all, its a nice place to visit and can fill a couple of hours of the day quite pleasantly.
Location information ● Japan, 東京都葛飾区柴又４丁目８ ● Japan, 〒125-0052 東京都葛飾区柴又７丁目１０−3 ● Japan, 〒125-0052 東京都葛飾区柴又６丁目２２−19
Related link ● www.katsushika-kanko.com/tora/ ● http://www.taishakuten.or.jp/index.html
