And that regret is entirely on us, not on Shimosa Nakayama Station.

Our ace reporter Mr. Sato has been living in Tokyo’s Nakano neighborhood for a long time, which means he’s taken a lot of rides on the Sobu Line between Nakano and Shinjuku, the closest stop to SoraNews24 HQ. That also means he’s spent a lot of time on the Nakano Station platform looking at this list of all the stations on the line…

…and he realized that even after more than a decade of living the Sobu Line life, there’s a station on it that he’s never gotten off at, not even once.

Granted, Shimosa Nakayama Station is a bit out of the way for Mr. Sato, as it’s several stops past where he gets off the train for work. As a matter of fact, Shimosa Nakayama isn’t even in Tokyo. It’s in the town of Funabashi in Chiba, the prefecture that borders Tokyo to the east.

Still, recently Mr. Sato has felt his eye drawn more and more to Shimosa Nakayama on the Sobu Line chart, and so on a recent morning, instead of getting off at Shinjuku as usual, he stayed on the train and rode it to Shimosa Nakayama, which is about 30 to 40 minutes east from central Tokyo.

Funabashi is far enough from downtown Tokyo to be affordable but still offer quick access to the heart of the city, and the area right around Shimosa Nakayama Station has the typical Japanese commuter community amenities. There’s a bus rotary outside the north gate, and a mixed-use high-rise called Millenity Nakayama with a supermarket, houseware and clothing shops, a gym, and various medical clinics on the lower floors, and condos on the upper ones.

Before arriving, Mr. Sato had done just enough checking to find out about one local attraction, Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple. This is one of the major temples of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, and was founded in 1325, during the reign of the Kamakura shogunate.

▼ It’s about a 10-minute walk from the north side of Shimosa Nakayama Station to Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple, and along the way you’ll walk across the borderline between Funabashi and the neighboring city of Ichikawa.

Because of its location, the Shimosa Nakayama neighborhood is what’s known in Japanese as a monzenmachi, which translates literally to “in-front-of-the-gate town.” These are communities that sprang up near temples or shrines, offering goods and services not just to the monks but also to pilgrims and other travelers, and even today the street that leads to the temple is lined with shops and restaurants.

▼ From the station, it’s pretty much a straight path northeast to the temple. But Mr. Sato still spotted this very large sign pointing visitors in the right direction.

Also on this street is another train station, Keisei Nakayama, on the Keisei Line, which is an alternative way to access the area. Stopped at the crossing to wait for a train to pass, Mr. Sato looked ahead and caught his first glimpse of one of the temple’s gates.

It’s an impressive piece of historical architecture, and the way it stands right in the middle of the town really helps tie the community’s past and present together. Mr. Sato couldn’t help being reminded of a similar sight near his grandma’s house in rural Shimane Prefecture, and he found himself smiling at how this sense of nostalgia mixed in with his excitement of being in a neighborhood he’d never visited before.

There’s an even bigger gate past this one, though…

…and right next to it is a statue of Nichiren, the founder of the Nichiren sect.

From here, you’re on what’s called the sando, the walkway that leads into the temple grounds. The cobblestones and lantern poles were already picturesque, but what really made the scenery incredible was the five-story pagoda!

Oh, and also adding to the appeal was the old-school cafe named Gakudo by the side of the road, offering stir-fried yakisoba noodles, oden (simmered meats and vegetable), and some sort of dessert called taikoyaki, which Mr. Sato made a mental note to come back and investigate later.

▼ You can see the Gakudo (額堂) sign on the left.

Entering the temple grounds, Mr. Sato found them spacious and beautiful. He’s sure the place gets more crowded on weekends on holidays, but with this being a weekday, and still before noon, he had almost the entire place to himself, and soaked up the tranquil atmosphere.

Walking closer to the pagoda and craning his next to look up gave an even more impactful sense of its size. Built in 1622 during the Edo period, it measures roughly 30 meters (98.4 feet) from its base to the tip of its spire.

Another historical artifact on the temple grounds is the bronze statue colloquially called the Great Buddha of Nakayama. At a height of 4.52 meters, including the base, it’s on the smaller side as far as “Great Buddha” statuary goes, but it’s still beautifully made, and dates from 1719.

Strolling around the grounds, Mr. Sato also came across Ryuo Pond, a beautiful lotus pond with a cool backstory.

“Ryuo” means “Dragon Kings,” and according to legend, long ago the people of this part of Japan were suffering from a terrible drought. Nichiren prayed to the Eight Great Dragon Kings for relief at this site, and they took pity on humanity, causing rain to fall and ending the drought.

No dragons made themselves present during Mr. Sato’s visit, but he did get to see a whole bunch of turtles.

OK, now it was time for Mr. Sato to go get that sweet snack he’d been intrigued by. Retracing his footsteps back to the cafe Gakudo, he ordered a taikoyaki…which turned out to be an obanyaki…

…or maybe some people would call it an imagawayaki. In Japan, there are a lot of different names for this type of confectionary, an enclosed disk of pancake-like cake with a sweet filling, and while Mr. Sato had never heard the term taikoyaki before this, he can’t say it’s wrong, as it does indeed resemble the shape of a taiko/Japanese drum.

Gakudo has indoor seating, but Mr. Sato decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather by sitting outside and pairing his snack with a glass of chilled green tea. Though the standard taikoyaki/obanyaki/imagawayaki filling is anko (sweet red beans), Mr. Sato opted for Gakudo’s chocolate cream filling, and was glad he did, as it was delicious, and an absolute bargain at just 150 yen (US$1).

Ever on the lookout for sweet treats, as he was moseying back towards the station Mr. Sato noticed a branch of Japanese confectioner Fukagawa Iseya.

▼ The walk from Gakudo to Fukagawa Iseya

The entire chain has only a half-dozen locations, so he popped in and picked up a manju (anko-filled dumpling), dorayaki (small pancakes with anko sandwiched between them), and mitarashi dango (skewered mochi balls with a sweet, sticky glaze).

Now very well set for desserts, it was time to look for lunch, which he found at Kaisho Sushi, a sushi restaurant very close to Shimosa Nakayama Station.

▼ From Fukagawa Iseya to Kaisho Sushi

They offer afternoon lunch specials starting at 1,280 yen for 10 pieces, but Mr. Sato decided to splurge just a little and got the top-of-the-line 12-piece Special Set, which was still just 1,680 yen.

It was a thing of beauty, especially the otoro (extra-fatty tuna), which was so richly delicious that Mr. Sato practically writhed in ecstasy as it melted on his taste buds.

And after he got home, he ate one of the mitarashi dango skewers, continuing his streak of outstanding edibles for the day.

Looking at all this, you might think that Mr. Sato had no regrets about his day, and he didn’t…at least not until well after he got home. Thinking back on how important Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple is, he was surprised the main hall wasn’t bigger. It turns out, though, that the temple hall he saw and took photos of isn’t actually the main one. The hall he’d seen is called the Soshido, and while it’s an officially registered Important Cultural Property, Nakayama Hokekyoji’s main hall is further back in the grounds, and there are other statues and monuments he also wasn’t aware of and went home without seeing.

So Mr. Sato’s only regret is that he didn’t see all that the Shimosa Nakayama Station area has to offer, but even then, it was still a great place to visit, and now he’s got a reason to go back again.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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