"Exploring Retro Nakano, Tokyo" - Stroll around the south exit of Nakano Station, where redevelopment is underway -

I'm Izayoi, a Nakano Tourism Reporter who loves to take walks in the Reiwa era while taking pictures of nostalgic Showa era scenery with an old digital camera. The area around the south exit of Nakano Station in Tokyo is undergoing a once-in-a-century redevelopment. I'll be introducing the scenery that has survived since the Showa era while the streets are being beautifully maintained.

(Nakano South Terra)

Nakano South Terrace is a complex that opened in 2024. Previously, a housing complex called Nakano Housing stood in this location. Residents began moving in in 1952, and until it was demolished in 2019, the area was quiet and unimaginable in front of a station.

(Nakano House in the past)

The tiles from the stairwell are now being used on the walls of the disaster prevention well in the Kosha Heim Nakano Front apartment building that replaced it.

In search of vestiges of the Showa era, we walk through Nakano Brick Hill Shopping District. The shopping district is paved with bricks like the back alleys of Europe, but it used to be a bumpy road made of a mixture of gravel and asphalt (it was named "Brick Hill" in 2002).

(Nakano Brick Hill Shopping Association)

If you turn left halfway up the hill, you will find a lantern from Sake House Kitaguni behind Nakano Marui.

It was a famous restaurant in Nakano that the proprietress had been running for a long time, but it has closed and we can no longer see its relaxing folk-art style space.

If you go down a back alley from "Sakabou Kitaguni," you'll see a sign for "JAM," a coffee shop that roasts its own beans, but it has also closed. It's sad to see the lights of this famous Nakano shop go out.

If you go south from "JAM" down the back alley, you will find Touen Kaikan and Touen Inari. Next to the Inari shrine is an old well.

Until the beginning of the Showa era, Nakano-dori Street did not run through the south exit of Nakano Station, and the station building was located closer to Koenji (about 100 meters west of the current location), so Momozono-dori Street was the main passageway from the south exit. At the time, it was a popular shortcut to Horinouchi Myohoji Temple (Suginami Ward), and was bustling with people.

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(A stone signpost with the words "Horiuchimichi" carved into it)

Touen Kaikan was built in the Taisho era to pray for the prosperity of the town, and even today it continues to contribute to the development of the Touen area and the preservation of its culture through events and other activities.

On September 15, 2024, the Nakano Hikawa Shrine Festival will be held with the portable shrine (Mikoshi) procession. The shrine deity will be carried in a portable shrine and paraded through the Momozono area, praying for the warding off of evil spirits.

(A large Shinto altar installed at Touen Kaikan)

This embroidered curtain with the words "Tokyo Nakano-cho" on it dates back to the Taisho period.

Many carriers gather at Touen Kaikan Hall, raising the excitement of the festival.

The Taoyuan portable shrine is quite large and very beautiful, including the decorations and carvings. It is a heavy portable shrine, so the carrying poles are long, but it seems that it used to be even longer.

With the music at the front, the parade goes through the Taoyuan area to the rhythm of the sounds of taiko drums, bamboo flutes, and gongs. We are grateful to all the people who carry the traditions.

We head to the restaurant "Iga," located in a four-storey tenement house facing Okubo Street.

When you enter the store, it feels like you've stepped into a time machine and gone back to the Showa era.

There's a handwritten menu on the wall, a black telephone that's still in use, and worn tables and chairs.

Watching the owner's back while waiting for the food to be prepared is an incredibly happy experience.

The hamburger steak set meal is fluffy and juicy.

That's all for today's walk. I found a lot of retro scenery right near Nakano Station. Even so, old place names such as Momozono, Senkoumae, Uchikoshi, and Irimachi have a certain charm to them. Even though the town has been redeveloped and is now new, I would like to pass them on to future generations.

Restaurant Iga

Location: 3-8-2 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo

Access: 7 minutes on foot from Nakano Station on the JR Chuo Line