Shibamata: Where history and movies collide in suburban Tokyo

by Lisa Jardine

Take it from the expert: Kit Nagamura, author and ?The Backstreet Stories? columnist for the Japan Times, has a few words of advice for the urban adventurer in Tokyo.

?All you need for a successful exploit are sunglasses, Band-Aids, sunscreen, a camera, a travel card, a phrasebook and �3,000 (US$38),? she says.

?The fear factor of going off the grid and wandering into the wrong neighborhood is zero and no matter where you are in Tokyo you can usually get home in a cab on that �3,000.?

Of the myriad places she?s explored, one of Nagamura?s favorite spots in Tokyo is Shibamata -- a curio of a town that mixes history and fiction into one heady brew.

This small Edo-period town on the northeastern edge of Tokyo was made famous by Tora-san -- the main character in the long-running movie series called ?Otoko wa Tsurai yo? (?It?s tough being a man?).

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