Let's visit the manga sacred place "Tokiwaso Ruins"!　

Tokiwaso used to be located about a 15-minute walk from Shiinamachi Station, which is one stop from Ikebukuro on the local train. The manga god Osamu Tezuka moved in in 1953, and since then Hiroo Terada, Fujiko Fujio, Shotaro Ishinomori, Fujio Akatsuka, and others have lived here, and it is a sacred place for manga culture, becoming a catalyst for the explosion of Japanese manga culture. Currently, the site and surrounding area are being maintained as a manga cultural heritage site by Toshima Ward. Now, let's visit the sacred place of Japanese manga.

The holy land of manga was located at Shiinamachi Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line!

Tokiwa-so is located on Mejiro Street from Shiinacho Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. In the past, the Ochiai Telephone Office was directly opposite, and on the public phones beside it, Fujiko Fujio and Ishinomori Shotaro and others in their younger days were in contact with the publishers. Although neither building is now available, a monument has been built on the former site of Tokiwa Sou, which is a sacred place for manga.

If you walk along Tokiwa-so Shopping Street Street from Shiinacho Station towards Mejiro Street, you will see a plate from the former Tokiwa-so Site on your left. The back of the street to the right of the plate is where Tokiwa Sou used to be.

The top half of the plate reads "a place associated with Tokiwa-so" and the bottom half reads "entrance to Tokiwa-so" in the top half. Now, let's head towards the direction your finger points to.

At the end of the street there is a monument. This is a stone monument built on April 6, 2012, recreating an apartment from the time. It is built at the back door of the former Tokiwaso. Later, Tezuka Osamu relocates to Namiki House in Zoshigaya, Toshima Ward, and Fujiko Fujio enters his room. According to the description in "Manga Do," Tezuka Osamu left the deposit at Tokiwa-so intact so that they don't have to pay the deposit for the two young Fujiko Fujio. "Mangamichi" is an autobiographical youth manga by Fujiko Fujio and others, which can be said to be the bible for aspiring manga artists, and was completed for 43 years from 1970 to 2013, despite changing the magazine and title.

After the two Fujiko Fujio move in, Tokiwa-so will be home to Ishinomori Shotaro and Akatsuka Fujio. With Terada Hiroo as the leader, they formed the "New Manga Party," and as lonely manga artists helped each other, they deepened their studies and communication. Later, Mizuno Eiko and others also became residents of Tokiwa-so. Popular manga that have even been made into TV anime, such as "Doraemon," "Genius Bakabon," and "Cyborg 009," may not have been born without Tokiwa Sou. Incidentally, the new building building of Nippon Kajo Publishing is located on the site of Tokiwa-so. The monument is set up on the premises of Nippon Kajo Publishing.

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The manga god’s favorite food! What is Tokiwaso Gourmet?

Once you see the monument, go back to the original path. The shop with a yellow tent fabric sign in front of you is Matsuba, a Chinese restaurant loved by the manga gods. Matsuba, a 3-minute walk from Tokiwaso, was a busy place to relax. It is said that before the deadline, Tezuka Osamu received special ramen delivery from Matsuba, which he had not originally offered. The young manga gods were looking forward to Matsuba ramen before and after the deadline. By the way, when they were busy, they usually eat by sandwiching croquettes on koppepan, eating with one hand, and moving the pen with one hand.

Below the entrance to the restaurant, there is a scene of Matsuba ramen in Fujiko Fujio's Manga Dori. Mangamichi was read as a bible for many aspiring manga artists, so Matsuba's ramen is still popular today as "Tokiwasou Gourmet."
Matsuba was founded in 1950, and at the time it was ramen for 40 yen. The shop in Matsuba, a sacred place for the gods of manga, which still remains today, is decorated with autographed colored papers from numerous manga artists. It's a ramen flavor, but it's a soy sauce ramen with traditional chicken stock. The toppings include half the boiled egg, thick char siu, and medium-thick noodles. It's quite a lot. Please stop by to commemorate the pilgrimage to the sacred site.

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A new manga sacred place “Tokiwaso Dori Rest Area”!

If you walk for about 2 minutes from "Chinese Restaurant Matsuba" towards Mejiro Dori, you will see "Tokiwaso Dori Rest Place" on your left. On the first floor, materials from manga artists and editors related to Tokiwaso, as well as souvenir goods, are on sale. On the second floor, there is a recreation of the workplace of Hiroo Terada, the leader of the New Manga Party and author of Sportsman Kintaro, and the Chinese restaurant Matsuba from when the manga gods lived at Tokiwaso. On display are the ramen bowls from ``Café Eden'' and the tables and chairs from ``Café Eden,'' where I used to go to cool off on hot summer days. The Tokiwaso Museum is a place where you can experience the youth of manga gods.

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What did you think?
The area around Shiinamachi Station, one stop from Ikebukuro on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, is a very ordinary residential area. However, there is no doubt that today's Japanese comic and anime culture began with Tokiwaso in this town. Why not take a walk and pay your respects to our ancestors? You're sure to have a great time.