Tateishi, Tokyo

With its retro-chic shopping streets and small, back-street workshops and factories, the area retains an atmosphere associated with Tokyo's earthy Shitamachi ("downtown") neighborhoods.

Tateishi Nakamise (立石仲見世), an old-fashioned shopping street near the railway station, was started soon after World War II ended.

The stone has been at its present location for at least 600 years and is thought to have been carried and erected here given that the area is on alluvial soil.

Locals began to worship the stone as an embodiment of the deity Inari during the Edo period (ca.

[1] Katsushika Ward Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools.