Quite often in Japan, you will find a neighborhood of shops leading to a major shrine or temple.
But if there was one area that caught my attention, it would have to be the shops that you see before or after visiting Nishiarai Daichi, the largest Shingon Buddhist temple in Northeast Tokyo.
From its cleanliness and also seeing the shops, many places will have small or very old (and run-down) shops but at Nishirai Daichi’s vicinity, a lot of these shops not only look classy and well-maintained but instead of being franchise-based stores, they are typically upgraded, cool looking mom and pop restaurants.
A few that have been there for decades and have served several generations.
I can only imagine how packed this location is during the New Year but one thing is for certain, as Nishiarai Daichi has a connection to daruma, you will find many shops carrying various sizes of daruma. But I wonder if people really go all out and buying the largest daruma they can find?
Nevertheless, the experience that I had visiting Adachi and seeing Nishiarai Daichi was amazing and if you are planning to make your way to the temple, you will no doubt go through many of these shops on your way there.
