I Love This Station: Nishi-Funabashi and Savarin

A Savarin I bought at Flo Prestige inside Nishi-Funabashi Station to take home.

About half a year after I moved to Tokyo, my mother came to visit from my hometown for about a week.

Born and raised in Kyushu, I decided to follow my then-boyfriend to the Kanto region when he was transferred for work. I was 23, and it was my first time living in Tokyo. Since his workplace provided a small housing allowance, we ended up living together in a 48-year-old apartment on top of a hill, a 20-minute walk up a steep slope from Nishi-Funabashi Station, that looked like it might collapse at any moment.

The bathroom had blue tiles that looked like they belonged in the movie 'Always: Sunset on Third Street.' It was what you'd call a dilapidated apartment, with the landlady's home on the first floor. There were only two other households living there besides us. Even though it was run-down, it was on a hill, so it had good sunlight and ventilation, and I loved the balcony. However, it was scary at night. After passing through the bar district in front of Nishi-Funabashi Station and crossing the railroad tracks, the foot traffic would suddenly drop off. There was a deserted pedestrian bridge next to it, and at night, it was pitch black, making it a slightly scary and lonely place. I always walked home quickly, checking behind me multiple times.
In the midst of this, my boyfriend had to go on a one-month business trip, and since I was honestly too scared to sleep alone, I issued an emergency summons to my mother.


I went to pick up my mother at Shinagawa Station, and we returned to Nishi-Funabashi Station together. Nishi-Funabashi Station isn't that big, but it's directly connected to Perie Nishi-Funabashi, and it has quite a few shops. It had a KALDI and a bookstore, so I took the opportunity to introduce them to my mother while chatting about my daily life. Sometimes there would be pop-up candy shops, and there was a bookstore on the third floor tucked away in a maze-like corner; I loved that cozy, old-yet-new atmosphere.
I had never seen a Flo Prestige inside a station until I came to Chiba, so I went there many times. I remember buying a whole cheese tart the day before my boyfriend left for his business trip and having them write 'Good luck with your business trip' on a message plate.

Honestly, I thought to myself that I had eaten it just three days ago, but since my mother liked Savarin and I had suggested it over the phone, saying, 'They sell Savarin, let's eat that,' I decided to buy it. I feel like you don't really see Savarin in cake shops often. It's a rare character.

After we spent some time looking around the station, we stopped by the supermarket in front of the station, and I told her the same story again about how I stop by here every day on my way home (I felt like my mother was starting to look like she had heard enough...).
On the way home, we bought triangle chocolate pies at McDonald's for breakfast.

We walked through the bar district in front of Nishi-Funabashi Station, talking about work and whether I was getting along with my boyfriend. There was an Isomaru Suisan, a Yokohama-style ramen shop, and some cheap clothing store I didn't know much about. There were shops on both sides, and the area in front of the station was noisy and bustling even at night.
Nishi-Funabashi Station had a mix of old-fashioned shops and new ones, and I loved that about it.


We passed through the street, crossed the tracks, and walked along the quiet road with my mother, looking at the stars.
I had thought you couldn't see stars in the Chiba night sky, but I realized every day while looking up that you actually could see quite a few. I even saw a UFO. (I want to talk about that another time.)
We passed by an old tonkatsu restaurant that had been there for a long time, walked past a temple, and climbed the big hill.

'You really live in a place like this, huh? Haha.'
As soon as she entered the room, my mother said this with a grin, as if she were looking at a haunted house.
'That's rude! I love the landlady, and I actually quite like it here!' I retorted.

We ate the Savarin together, squeezing the dropper filled with alcohol into the cake.

When I glanced at my mother, she was wearing the sheep-pattern pajamas she had brought from home, making coffee as if she were in her own house, and eating silently. My mother doesn't smile with a huge grin very often, but when she ate the Savarin, she smiled broadly, and she seemed satisfied, saying, 'Savarin really is delicious, isn't it?'
For some reason, I felt like I was going to burst into tears at that moment, so I poked at the cream with my fork as hard as I could to keep from crying.

I was thinking to myself, 'I'm getting married.'

It was the first time I had lived so far away from my mother,
and I felt like I wanted to show her that I was doing okay even far away,
I felt proud, but I also wanted to show my mother so much of my daily life, and I realized, 'Oh, I'm lonely.'
I was happy that she had come all the way from Kyushu by herself with a big suitcase, and so, sure enough, I shed a few tears.



Even now, the memory of that Savarin comes back to me.
This is why I love Nishi-Funabashi Station.

I had been thinking, 'I want to participate in this project, I want to participate,' but
I hadn't been able to do it until now,
but the moment I saw #I_Love_This_Station, I knew I had to participate.
I knew this had to be my first project participation.

That said, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about railways or trains. The reason I was so drawn to this is that I realized stations are packed with memories. The nervous memory of my first day at work, the memory of meeting someone special, the memory of being lonely in a land far from my family, the memory of making my first friend and returning home with a heart full of excitement—no matter the day, the scenery of the station has always been the backdrop for the beginning and end of my day.

The 'Station-Starting Point' theme, which I hadn't seen before, was wonderful.
It just so happened that Nishi-Funabashi Station was the place where I had memories of a turning point in my life, but I lived in Soga after that,
and I have memories of every other station, too. Even now, about 10 years later, I remember them. The scenery, the shops. The people I met there. Everything overlaps, there's drama, they become precious memories of my life, and I live my life now while remembering them.

Once, feeling nostalgic, I went on a trip with my husband to visit my old haunts in Chiba. We were planning to go to an izakaya at Soga Station that day, so I just took photos on the platform at Nishi-Funabashi Station, but next time, I want to get off at Nishi-Funabashi Station.

I have many memories with the landlady, too. And stories about the Nanpudo Coffee shop in front of the station. I want to write about those again.

Lastly, a photo I still have because the sky was so beautiful.

#I_Love_This_Station
#ekinote