Tokyo Oasis

Showa retro: The Kameido Katori Kachiun Shopping Street

Experience the bustle of the year-end in Tokyo by visiting a shopping district in the old downtown area. From the north exit of Kameido station, walk straight along Meiji-dori Avenue and make a left turn at the Kameido 4-chome intersection. One step through the great stone torii gate of the Kameido Katori Kachiun shopping street transports you back to the nostalgic days of the Showa 30s, some 50 years ago.

This street, revitalized through a model project promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Koto ward to boost tourism by creating a "retro" shopping district, was reopened this past spring. Shops including flower shops, miso shops, and fruit and vegetable grocers, with facades resembling the distinctive signboard architecture (kamban kenchiku) of that age, line the way. When the lights come on at dusk, this area emits an even greater feel of days gone by.

At the end of the road is Katori-jinja. A venerable shrine to pray for victory, in recent years it has come to be revered as enshrining the god for sports promotion, with athletes visiting before matches to purchase the "kachi-mamori" good luck charms. This is why the shopping road's name includes the word kachiun, meaning "good fortune in victory." Within the shrine grounds you also find the Kameido Daikon Monument; this area was the center of cultivation of Kameido daikon (a radish) from the late 19th century to early 20th century.

The Kitajikkengawa River runs near the shrine. Downstream you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree, highlighted by the setting sun. Nearing completion after over three years of construction, this colossal new tower makes us aware of how the times are changing.