A Walk around Sakura Shin Machi / 桜新町の散歩

It's been a while since Mikako and I took a walk around a neighborhood we haven't been to. Today, our goal was Sakura Shin Machi. I had been looking forward to walking around here to check out the Machiko Hasegawa Museum and Sazae-san Street. I probably don't have to explain who Machiko Hasegawa or Sazae-san is to my Japanese readers, but for those of you who are not familiar, Machiko Hasegawa is the author/illustrator of one of Japan's longest running cartoons - Sazae-san. But before heading to the museum, we were planning on having lunch at a Italian restaurant owned and run by a chef from Madagascar (yes, I said Madagascar) in Komazawa (one station apart from Sakura Shin Machi) called [Erick Pierre]. Mikako was watching a television program the previous day and that particular restaurant was featured. We found the restaurant without any problems but it didn't seem to be open, so we decided to head on Sakura Shin Machi first.

今回もまたあんまり歩き回った事ない所に行きました。場所は桜新町。僕は前からここに散歩したかった。なぜと言えば、長谷川町子美術館に行ってみたかった。長谷川町子？どっかで聞いたことあるような名前。その人は日本の国民的のまんが、「サザエさん」の著者である。でも桜新町を行く前に、もう一すの目的地はありました。前の日、美香子がテレビ番組の「知っとこ」を観て、マダガスカル出身のシェフが経営してるイタリアンレストラン「エリック・ピエール」が紹介されてた。そこでランチを食べるのを決めてた。店は簡単に見つかったが、まだ営業してなかった感じだったので、先に桜新町に行くことにした。

On our walk towards Sakura Shin Machi, we came across an long entrance to a shrine which made for a nice picture.

桜新町を向う途中にある神社の長い入口に良い絵になりそうと思った僕は写真を撮った。

Once we reached Sakura Shin Machi, we went in search of Sazae-san Street (which was quite easy to find) as there was a big sign pointing the way.

桜新町にたどり着いたら、すぐサザエさん通りを探してみた。でっかいサインがあって、簡単に見つけた。

As we made our way towards the Machiko Hasegawa Museum, we came across Nakajima-kun (Katsuo's friend), Wakame and her classmate (characters from Sazae-san of course).

長谷川町子美術館に行く途中中島君とわかめちゃんとわかめちゃんの同級生と会った。

Also while heading towards the museum, we saw a sign that said there was going to be a Nebuta Festival here in Sakura Shin Machi. Unfortunately, the festival was last week. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Nebuta Festival, it's one Japan's biggest festivals that's held every August in Aomori City in Aomori Prefecture, featuring these huge Nebuta floats, some that are well over 10 feet tall and very wide. We came across two here in Sakura Shin Machi, with just one difference - there were way small. Mikako and I laughed when we saw them. Of course I had to take a picture.

サザエさん通りを歩きながら、ねぶた祭りが開催するポスターを見た。でも祭りは先週だったらし。それでもねぶたを二つ発見。私たちがそれを見た瞬間ちょっと笑っちゃいました。なぜと言えば、見たねぶたは超ちっちぇ～！もちろん写真を撮りました。

We finally made it to the museum. The museum is housed in a cute red brick building. The entrance fee was 600yen for adults. I was pretty excited as my brother and I used to watch this cartoon in our elementary years when we were living in Tokyo. I thought there would be all sorts of figures, toys, animation cells, and such but was disappointed to find that it really was just an art museum, and all the art wasn't by Machiko Hasegawa. There was one small room devoted to Sazae-san where kids could watch Sazae-san videos. Aside from that, the room was pretty sparse. The only really interesting piece of art was the miniature of the Isono house. It was very detailed, down to the Japanese style bathroom. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed inside the building. Too bad.

やっと長谷川町子美術館に到着。可愛い赤レンガのビルでした。入場料は大人￥６００．僕は結構楽しみにしてた。小学校時代よく家族で観てたアニメだった。当時も東京に住んでて、凄い思い出があるアニメです。ま、多分昭和のフィギャーとかおもちゃが展示されてるんだなと思ってた。でも実際に入ると、超期待外れでした。普通の美術館や、それに、長谷川町子が描いた絵じゃない！サザエさん部屋があったけど、ただサザエさんビデオが流されてる感じだけ。一番面白いものは磯野家のこまかいミニアチュア。それは凄かった。和式のトイレから子供部屋や、アニメで観た風景がそのまま再現されてる。でも残念ながら館内は撮影禁止。

That's Katsuo waving from the window. / かつお君が窓から手を振ってる。

The Isono and Fuguta Family - from left to right: Namihei Isono, Fune Isono, Tama (pet cat),

Sazae Fuguta, Katsuo Isono, Wakame Isono, Tarao Fuguta (Tara-chan), and Masuo Fuguta

磯野とふぐ田家：左から、磯野浪平、磯野フネ、たま、ふぐ田サザエ、磯野カツオ、磯野ワカメ、ふぐ田タラオ（タラちゃん）、ふぐ田マスオ

And as we still haven't had lunch, we went in search of a place to eat and found a pleasant Italian restaurant called [La Pianta], but I will save that for another post.

美術館から出たあと、まだ昼飯も食べてないので、近くにある店を探しました。それで「ラ・ピアンタ」とうゆうおしゃれなイタリアンレストランを発見。でもそれはまた別のポストに紹介しますね。