The statues of Captain Tsubasa in Yotsugi / Tateishi
Captain Tsubasa is a manga (1981) from which several anime series have been created. The first one was released in 1983, but many others have been made over the years.
The anime has been a huge success all over the world.
The author is
Yōichi Takahashi and he was born in 1960 in Tokyo, in the ward of
Katsushika. In particular, he was born and raised in the area around
Yotsugi station, and graduated from a high school in the nearby neighborhood of
Tateishi.
Statues of the characters of Captain Tsubasa in Katsushika, Tokyo
In 2013, eight statues depicting several famous characters from Captain Tsubasa were unveiled in the area between the stations of Yotsugi and Keisei-Tateishi, a quiet and quaint residential district of Tokyo. The author wanted in this way also to try to lend a hand to his hometown.
"Yotsugi is the place where I was born and raised, but it seems to be shabby compared to when I was a child. I would like every kind of people to come from all of Japan and from all over the world to see, touch and photograph this statue".
In this way Yōichi Takahashi commented on the inauguration of the first statue.
Around the neighborhood you can find various references to Captain Tsubasa as well as maps (only in Japanese) with the location of the statues. Let's have a deeper look of each statue.
Ryo Ishizaki's statue
Address: 4-15-10 Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区四つ木4-15-10).
This statue is located under the elevated railroad tracks, in the immediate vicinity of Yotsugi station, only 90 meters away.
It depicts Ryo Ishizaki, often known as
Bruce Harper in several foreign dubbings: one of Tsubasa's best friends and a bit clumsy as a player, even if he has great willpower.
Kojiro Hyuga's statue
Address: 1-16-24 Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区四つ木1-16-24).
This statue is located within a small park (
Yotsugi Park) 200 meters away from Yotsugi station, entirely surrounded by a quiet residential area.
It depicts Kojiro Hyuga, often known as
Mark Lenders or
Steve Hyūga in several foreign dubbings: one of the strongest players in the series and the only one to have defeated Tsubasa at least once. He is famous for his shooting power and his very physical playing style.
Statua a grandezza naturale di Tsubasa Ozora's statue
Address: 1-22-3 Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区四つ木1-22-3).
This statue is located within a children's playground renamed
Yotsugi Tsubasa Park, 250 meters away from Yotsugi station. This is the first statue to have been made, and one of the only two ones to be life-size.
It depicts Tsubasa Oozora, often known as
Oliver Hutton (Oliver Atton, Oliver Atom) in several foreign dubbings. The undisputed protagonist of the series.
Roberto Hongo and Tsubasa Ozora's statue
Address: 2-3-3 Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区四つ木2-3-3).
This statue stands on a sidewalk next to a large road about 500 meters north of Yotsugi station.
It is the only one depicting two characters: the main protagonist Tsubasa Oozora (
Oliver Hutton) together with Roberto Hongo (
Roberto Sedinho in some foreign dubbings), ex-Brazilian footballer, Tsubasa's great friend and life coach.
Sanae Nakazawa's statue
Address: 2-28-1 Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo (四つ木2-28-1).
This statue stands on a sidewalk in front of the
Katsushika Post Office, 600 meters away from Yotsugi station.
It depicts Sanae Nakazawa, often known as
Patty in several foreign dubbings, waving a flag as she usually does during every game of Tsubasa's soccer team. A huge fan and madly in love with him, in the course of the series she will become the girlfriend of the protagonist.
Taro Misaki's statue
Address: 3-3-1 Tateishi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区立石3-3-1).
This statue is located within a small park (
Shibue Park) more or less halfway between Yotsugi station and Keisei-Tateishi station. It is one of the only two life-size statues, along with that of Tsubasa previously mentioned.
It depicts Taro Misaki running with the ball. Often known as
Tom Becker (Tom Baker, Ben Becker) in several foreign dubbings, he is a player with great technique, one of Tsubasa's best friends.
Genzo Wakabayashi's statue
Address: 4-28-14 Tateishi, Katsushika, Tokyo (東京都葛飾区立石4-28-14).
This statue stands on a sidewalk about 200 meters north of Keisei-Tateishi station.
It depicts Genzo Wakabayashi, often known as
Benji Price (Tom Price in France), unbeatable goalkeeper and one of the main characters in the series.
Tsubasa Ozora che corre's statue
Address: 1-21-6 Tateishi, Katsushika, Tokyo.
This statue is located inside a small playground (
Tateishi 1 Children’s Park) in one of the characteristic commercial streets that surround Keisei-Tateishi station.
It depicts once again the protagonist of the series Tsubasa Oozora, running and lifting the ball with the heel. One of the many spectacular acrobatics that Tsubasa usually does during games.
Trattoria Avere: the favorite restaurant of Yōichi Takahashi
A few meters from Keisei-Tateishi station there is a restaurant called Trattoria Avere (トラットリア アヴェーレ), a favorite of the author of Captain Tsubasa, Yōichi Takahashi.
It is a small Italian restaurant that serves pizza, pasta and other small dishes.
This restaurant has become popular among the Japanese fans of Captain Tsubasa because Tahahashi himself has gradually filled the interior walls with drawings of various characters of the series.
The restaurant does not have a website, but it has a
facebook page.
Yōichi Takahashi's high-school
About 700 meters north of Tateishi station there is the high school where Yōichi Takahashi graduated in 1978, the
Tokyo Metropolitan Minami Katsushika High School (東京都立南葛飾高等学校).
How to get to the hometown of Captain Tsubasa and map
Katsushika is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, and it is located at the eastern end of the city.
The two main stations to reach this area of Tokyo are
Yotsugi station and
Keisei-Tateishi station, located one after the other along the
Keisei Oshiage line.
The Keisei Oshiage line is a very short line itself, but you can reach the stations mentioned above very easily from
Asakusa: the trains of the
Toei Asakusa line of the subway, after reaching the terminus (
Oshiage station) they continue along the Keisei Oshiage line, you don't need to change the train.
The two stations are about 1.5 km from each other. As you can see yourself from the map below, four statues of Captain Tsubasa out of eight are located near Yotsugi station, two are more or less halfway, two others are located near Keisei-Tateishi station, as well as the Trattoria Avere and the high school where Takahashi graduated.
Recommended itinerary
I advise you to get off at Yotsugi station, and from there to take a long walk through the streets of the surrounding residential district, looking for all the statues while getting closer and closer to the area of Tateishi. Tateishi is a very lively and quaint area, full of shops and restaurants (including the above-mentioned Trattoria Avere), so it is a great place to end your walk eating something in an area frequented only by locals.
Guided tours, activities and other things to do
If you are planning a trip to Japan and you want to do something more than just visiting famous places and monuments, we suggest you to use
Rakuten Travel Experiences.
How to use Rakuten Travel Experiences
Rakuten Travel is a very useful website to
enrich your travel experience, especially if you are going solo or it's your first time in Japan.
Because of the language barrier (and more), in Japan it is very difficult to interact with the locals and to get off the tourist track.
Thanks to Rakuten Travel you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes unique
guided tours and activities all over Japan (and not only in Japan), that you would otherwise never be able to enjoy.
But there's more: on Rakuten Travel you can also
buy tickets for several famous attractions, events, transportation and other useful services for tourists. Last but not least, you can
reserve a table in hundreds of restaurants.
Some examples
Take a look at Rakuten Travel Experiences
You may also be interested in
