is a neighborhood in

Katsushika, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

, Japan. The name derives from a tiny stone monument called , located at 8-37 Tateishi. 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. Katsushika Ward Office, is located at 5-13-1 Tateishi.

Geography

Tateishi is situated on the west bank of the Nakagawa, a river, about 3 km south of the Kameari area known to many through the manga ''

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo , often shortened to , and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station ( k� ...

''. The Higashi-Tateishi ("east Tateishi") neighborhood lies to the south of Tateishi. , an old-fashioned shopping street near the railway station, was started soon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

ended. Until around 1980, Tateishi was home to numerous small, family-owned factories, though many of these have since closed and small apartment houses now occupy many of their former sites. The neighborhood's chief industries include

dyeing Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular c ...

works and doll manufacturing.

Transportation

Tateishi is served by the

Keisei Electric Railway The (stylized as K'SEI since 2001) is a major private railway in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan. The name ''Keisei'' is the combination of the kanji 京 from and 成 from , which the railway's main line connects. The combination uses diffe ...

through its Keisei Tateishi Station. Most trains stopping at Tateishi also serve

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

, about 12 minutes away. Narita International Airport is also readily accessible from Tateishi by changing to a limited express train at Aoto, the next station down the line in the Narita direction.

Major businesses

Toy, merchandising, and entertaining giant

Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Ta ...

is headquartered in Tateishi.

Tateishi-sama

Tateishi ("standing stone") derives its name from a standing stone addressed by locals as Tateishi-sama, ''sama'' being a suffix indicating respect. 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 Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

(ca. 1600–1868), hence the ''sama'' in the name. The stone is reputed to have once had a height of 8-24 inches (approximately 20 to 60 cm), but today it stands only 1 inch above ground level due to the effects of

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s, subsidence, and breakage by locals who wanted to use a piece of the stone as a talisman against disease or getting shot in battle.

Education

Katsushika Ward Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools. Tateishi 1- chome is zoned to Honden Elementary School (本田小学校). 2-4-chome and part of 5-chome are zoned to Umeda Elementary School (梅田小学校). 6-7-chome and the rest of 5-chome are zoned to Seiwa Elementary School (清和小学校). 8-chome is zoned to Katsushika Elementary School (葛飾小学校). Tateishi 3-4 and 6-8-chome, as well as part of 5-chome, are zoned to Tateishi Junior High School (立石中学校). 2-chome and the rest of 5-chome are zoned to Daido Junior High School ( 大道中学校). 1-chome is zoned to Honden Junior High School ( 本田中学校).

References

{{Authority control Neighborhoods of Tokyo Katsushika