3 Nice Things About Living in Kamata, Tokyo

I have been living in what’s called a “social residence” in Kamata, Tokyo for 3 months.

Kamata is on the border of Kawasaki. In other words, Kamata is about as far West as you can go before you leave Tokyo prefecture.

It’s nice out here, with fewer bells and whistles and lights flashing everywhere. Still, there are sushi restaurants, dive bars, and karaoke places.

Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to since I moved out here:

1. Yokohama Day Trips

It’s easy to take a day trip to Yokohama from Kamata. The Keikyu train line runs past neighboring Kawasaki all the way to Yokohama, which is a large city in its own right, and totally different than Tokyo.

I feel like the difference between Tokyo and Yokohama is like the difference between New York and Philadelphia. They’re both cities, but one of them is taller and has more lights.

The trick to getting around Kamata is to master the Kaikyu train line. You can get lost if you don’t.

There’s a local line that stops at every station, two limited express lines, and a full express line. I found that I had to start memorizing all the important stops, which wasn’t too hard once I started feeling comfortable in Kamata.

2. Catan in Japan

One of the nice things about living in a so-called “social residence” is that everyone is always out and ready to make friends. So when I found a bunch of people sitting around a table playing Settlers of Catan one night, I asked to join them.

Before too long, I was in on all the weekend Catan games.

Fun fact: You know the special cards you draw in Catan? The ones that cost a wheat, a sheep, and a stone? Well, over here, they call those cards ゆめかあど or “dream cards.” I don’t know whether that’s Japan-wide or just local table-talk, but it’s definitely interesting.

3. Neon Genesis: Evangelion Chips & Snackies

Look: anime-themed snacks are far from Kamata-specific. Hell, you can get them practically anywhere in Tokyo! But the fact is, I got the damn things at “OK Supermarket” in Zoshiki, Kamata. So this is my number three nice thing about living here.

Yes, I could have talked about the beautiful butterflies all over the place, or the gorgeous river that cuts between Tokyo and Kawasaki, or several other major features and landmarks. But I didn’t do that. I talked about Evangelion chippie things.

(if you want footage of the Tama River, you’ll find it at the bottom of this post)

Anyway, in celebration of the upcoming Evangelion movie, I’ve been seeing some varieties of Eva-themed snacks.

Bag of snacky, chippy things.

They tasted crunchy and spicy.

The striped texture was especially nice because a lot of orange flavor gets stuck in the grooves and it pops out when you chew it or suck on it.

Evangelion Ramen

This Eva ramen was actually surprisingly flavorful. It was quite salty, and contained various shapes inside, including your run of the mill dehydrated scallions, some cute brown fluffy meat-like shapes, and even tiny white discs that resembled miniature fish cakes. In fact, if I had one complaint at all, it was that the soup was too salty. I know that’s a feature of Japanese cuisine, but this was really too much for me. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I felt my blood pressure spiked after I ate it!

That’s All, Folks…except

Except for your Tama River footage. Here it is. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.