(Our visit to Showa no Machi was partially covered here in article about Kids on the Slope movie filming locations.)
Time travel is a distinct possibility in Japan; throughout the country neighborhoods or districts are preserved like time capsules of an era. The Edo-era (1603-1868) Japan of samurai and daimyo can be found all over, a few architectural parks preserve the dignity of the Meiji era’s (1868-1912) modernizing Japan and even Taisho-era (1912-1926) Japan is represented in a little “retro town,” but a hidden gem of Japanese time travel is Bungo Takada’s Showa no Machi (“Showa Town”).
Passing under its light-up sign painted in a hip shade of orange that hasn’t been in vogue since the space race ended, we entered a shopping district that revels in preserving the most idealized parts of the mid-Showa (1955-1965) era. This is a take on the hopeful, modernizing and consumer-driven 1950s from a freshly resurgent and economically healthy Japan. And it’s evident in the rows of shops which sell modern goods (or modern retro goods) but their windows display antiques as if on sale and use signage that reflects their district’s heyday. Many buildings come in different styles and construction from the dawn of the 20th century that adds to the unique and colorful atmosphere. Like a movie set at Universal (or Toho) there’s a lot of detail to take in and as a photographer all this made shooting the half-kilometer district a lot of fun.
More than buildings, this is living history in its truest form as Showa no Machi balances being a living commercial district with being a tourist attraction by simply being what it is. Businesses, some of which are over a century old and many still family-owned, thankfully refuse to get with the times. We stopped at a few places for snacks, coffee and meals, and for the most part the owners still make sweets and snacks the way their parents or grandparents made them, the coffee shop owner consciously makes his foamy lattes in a way that was popular during the 1960s and his Hayashi rice, which is rice covered in a demi-glace sauce, is a recipe that was popular during the era that has since been eclipsed by curry.
Even if a shop really had nothing to sell us it was still fun to step inside and look around, to see what vintage items they had on display and talk with the owners, who were all very friendly and engaging even with tourists who had no need for their goods. Mr. Morikawa, owner of Morikawa Candy Shop (since 1919!) explained that this friendly attitude is part of the nostalgic atmosphere, just like the antiques and old-fashioned goods. If you speak Japanese, he’s happy to tell stories for as long as you’re willing to listen as he’s quite proud of their local effort in saving and preserving their little district. (If you have time, also ask about his Coca-Cola collection, you just have to ask to understand.)
Since it’s kind of like an admission-free theme park Showa no Machi’s also has a ride, a shiny red-and-yellow 1957 Isuzu bonnet bus which gives free tours on holidays and weekends. Here we were amused by a comic tour guide in a Jackie Kennedy pillbox hat that narrated our travel as the bus bounced with every slight bump in the road and engine vibrations pulsed through its body. As we rolled through the narrow streets shop owners came out and waved or held up goods like animatronics on a Disneyland ride. I thought it a bit cheesy, but after getting out of the bus and meeting these same people I’d changed my mind.
Showa no Machi also has several museums, two small ones on the street itself and the Showa Roman-gura (“Showa Nostalgic Warehouse”) museums. It’s museums are a mid-century toy museum, Dagashiya-no-yume Museum, and Showa no Yume Town 3rd Street, which also has a large collection of vintage cars outside including a few of those distinct three wheeler trucks and midgets (it’s the car model).
I didn’t think I’d care for the toy museum but got sucked in once inside. The entrance is an old looking candy shop, but show your ticket and get ushered into the “backroom,” a warehouse of wall-to-wall vintage toys, antiques and movie posters. Somehow I walked out feeling nostalgic for someone else’s childhood as I am neither a boomer or Japanese.
The other museum stood out for its presentation of a mid-century home as I walked through an “outdoor” side street with changing lighting to affect time of day/night, then through a cluttered backyard and into the furnished home itself, black-and-white TV aglow, dishes put away and living room nicely cluttered. At “night” distinct whistles sounded off that made no sense to me but made my wife very happy. She explained that they were made by wandering food peddlers; one was for tofu and the other for ramen. If you brought out your ramen bowl the peddler would fill it up for a low price. The rest of the museum is also interactive as we tried out a pop-gun shooting gallery and sat in a classroom loaded with teaching aids and school items spanning the Showa era’s (1926-1989) seven decades.
For lunch we tried both the curry and Hayashi rice at Brazil Coffee, where a live guitarist gently playing oldies kept patrons entertained. Mr. Hayashi, the owner, gave good advice to help us make the most of our trip and when he saw us leaving for the day flagged us down to ask how everything went and was kind enough to help us find a good place for dinner, even though we were staying in a different town. The other must-visit place to snack is Morikawa Candy Shop for their homemade “ice candy” popsicles which comes in three classic flavors- milk, sweet azuki bean and macha.
I recommend checking out the handheld video guide at https://www.showanomachi.com/en/shop_movies for visitors who lack language ability or a Japanese-speaking spouse. For every treasure or special place we found there are three more we walked past without realizing making this somewhere we could stand to visit another time or two.
We spent a full day at Showa no Machi but had to hurry out before sunset so we could rush to Bungo Takada’s other star attraction, Matama Beach, to watch the sunset from one of Japan’s 100 most beautiful sunset spots. There’s no use to describing the beauty of a sunset so suffice to say, it deserves the spot on the list.
The English web page for Showa no Machi is almost empty, go to the Japanese one here and run it through a translator:
https://www.showanomachi.com/special/syowa.html
For visitors coming by car, there is a rather large parking lot adjacent to the museums. Go to the address here:
Showa Roman-gura & Dagashi no Yume
1007-5 Shinmachi, Bungotakada, Oita 879-0628