No.4 Streets(1)

About shoutengai, shopping street in Japan etc

There is a road called “shoutengai” in the streets of Japan. It’s a town lined with eaves along both sides of a straight road, not too big. Each shop is a specialty store that sells food, clothing, daily necessities, etc. And there are simple dining room, coffee shop, izakaya, yakitori stand, etc. It is said that the origin of the shopping district can be traced back to Rakuichi / Rakuza in the 16th century Sengoku period and post towns and monzen towns in the Edo period from the 17th to the 19th century. However, the remaining shopping streets are likely to have been created during the Meiji era from the 19th century to the early 20th century, or during the Showa era after World War II.

These malls often have arcades. It has the function of avoiding rain and creates one closed and unique space. Currently, many shopping streets in Japan sell small items that are essential to the lives of the general public. You can also learn about Japanese lifestyles there. The shop is small and sells traditional items. With a retro feel of more than 50 years ago, you can quickly return to Japan 50 or 60 years ago.

There are various “shotengai” shopping streets in Tokyo. For example,

Togoshi Ginza
the longest street in the Kanto region

Sugamo Jizo-dori Shopping Street
the famous street as the grandmother’s Harajuku

Ameya Yokocho
the famous street for its selling cheap items, very crowded at the end of the year

Shopping district in Asakusa
a major tourist destination

Shibamata
It is the first town that Japanese people think of when they hear “Japanese traditional downtown”. It is also famous for being the home of the famous movie character Tora san.

(Shutter Street)
In a depopulated area near a big city, the once popular shopping streets are now the streets of shuttered stores. It may be more like the metabolism of a city than the rise and fall of a particular place.

Google Map(Togoshi Ginza)
https://goo.gl/maps/tiKu1sMs9JyPMEsQ8
Google Map(Sugamo Jizo-dori Shopping Street)
https://goo.gl/maps/i6Vv1puYQrvKwQ8SA
Google Map(Asakusa) https://goo.gl/maps/i6Vv1puYQrvKwQ8SA
Google Map(Shibamata)
https://goo.gl/maps/Zx4ZcKNqQUsqbJtK9

© 2020 Tokyoite-chk