I’m Kimura from Tokyo!

Today, I will introduce you to the Nakajuku shopping street, a local shopping street that is not often featured in tourist guides. It is bustling with many shops, and if local people are going to buy ingredients for dinner, they can find everything here. Also, this area has a history of prosperity since the Edo period as it has been a key point of transportation known as Nakasendo.

But that’s not all. There is a place called the “Enkiri Enoki,” which is not so famous. Moreover, it is quietly located in a very small place in the shopping street. There, visitors were coming one after another, I wonder where they heard about it… I would be happy if this blog could convey local information in the northern part of Tokyo.

There are many shopping streets in Tokyo, but Nakajuku Shopping Street is a historic shopping street located in Kita Ward, Tokyo, extending north and south along Itabashi-juku, the first post town of Nakasendo, which was developed during the Edo period.

Nakajuku Shopping Street combines the old-fashioned atmosphere with modern convenience and is loved by local people. There are over 100 various shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street, including restaurants, general stores, supermarkets, beauty salons, and cleaning shops, where you can find everything you need for daily life. It may not be a region visited by tourists from overseas, but I think it is a place loved by local people.

juku Nakajuku Shopping Street is located in Itabashi-juku, the first post town of Nakasendo, one of the five highways that connected Edo and Kyoto during the Edo period. Nakasendo started from Nihonbashi in Edo, passed through 67 post towns, and reached Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto, a distance of about 500 kilometers, which took about 20 days on foot.

Nakasendo was an important road where many people, such as government officials, daimyo, merchants, and travelers, came and went. There are many places of interest and historical sites on Nakasendo, such as the nature of Mount Fuji and Okutama, temples and shrines in Ueno and Nagano, and castles in Gifu and Nagoya. Nakasendo is a road where you can feel the history and culture of Japan.

Itabashi-juku prospered as the first post town of Nakasendo during the Edo period and was also the starting point of the Kawagoe Highway. It consists of three post towns, Kamijuku, Nakajuku, and Hiraokajuku, and its name comes from the “Itabashi” that spans the Shakujiigawa River. It prospered as one of the four Edo-juku, but with the advent of the Meiji era, the importance of Nakasendo declined, and Itabashi-juku gradually became desolate and transformed into a red-light district. The hustle and bustle continued until the middle of the Showa era. You can still feel the historical atmosphere of this area.

There are over 100 various shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street. The shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street are indispensable for local people and provide high-quality products and services. The shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street value communication with customers and support the lives of local people. The shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street are loved by local people.

Among the shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street, I will introduce some particularly popular ones. First, “Itago Shoten,” located in the center of Nakajuku Shopping Street, is a café in a 100-year-old former rice shop. This building conveys history and atmosphere to the present.

It was also registered as a tangible cultural property of Itabashi Ward in Reiwa 2. Currently, it offers a café and lunch boxes, and the Nishikyo-yaki Nori Bento is popular.

Next, in my personal opinion, I also recommend the izakaya called “Penguin Yatai.” It’s a popular shop, so it might be full of customers, but you can also enjoy takeout. There are yakitori lined up at the storefront, and the fragrant smell of freshly baked yakitori stimulates your appetite as you pass by the shop.

Finally, I would like to introduce my recommendation, “Araiya Saketen.” It is a liquor store located in the southern part of Nakajuku Shopping Street. If you pass by the shop, you will see that there are a wide variety of sake lined up. Sake from all over Japan is lined up. I think the labels of Japanese sake are one of the highlights for those who like kanji overseas.

There are many other attractive shops in Nakajuku Shopping Street.

Cut off Bad Relationships with Enkiri Enoki In one corner of Nakajuku Shopping Street, there is a shrine called Enkiri Enoki. It’s a really small, small shrine. Enkiri Enoki is a shrine that is said to have been founded during the Edo period. The tree in the precincts of this shrine, which was once in the residence of Hatamoto Kondo Toshiyuki, gathered faith to cut off bad relationships and tie good ones.

In the first year of Bunkyu(1861), when Princess Kazunomiya married the 14th Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi, she bypassed this place because it was bad luck, and there is a story left. Under this tree, lovers, parents and children, brothers and sisters, etc., wrote their wishes on ema, assuming a breakup, and prayed by hanging it on this tree. After that, there was a custom that if the wish came true, they would take the ema home. Also, it was said that couples who met under this tree would be happy.

Currently, it is worshiped as something that “cuts off bad relationships but ties good ones,” and it is one of the most famous places in Itabashi-juku. Ema is sold in vending machines installed on the premises (1,000 yen with a strap, sales time is from 6:00 to 21:00). This Enkiri Enoki, which stands quietly in one corner of Nakajuku Shopping Street, does not stop visitors from all over the country.

I’m glad if I could convey a little about Nakajuku Shopping Street, which is not visited by tourists.

This shopping street may not be a place visited by tourists from overseas, but I would be happy if it is conveyed that such a place exists. Why not visit this place, which was a key point of transportation in the past and is now a place loved by local residents, if you have the opportunity? Thank you for reading my blog until the end, which has become long this time.