Shotengai

Place : Kyoto
Taken by : H. M. (Doshisha International Junior/Senior High School)

Shotengai is a style of Japanese commercial district running along a certain street. It often connects to the nearest train station. There are many different kinds of grocery shops, restaurants and other useful stores in shotengai.

This is Johoku Dori Shotengai in Takatsuki (Osaka), which connects to the Hankyu Takatsuki station. The size of this shotengai is not very big compared to the others, but includes lots of different stores and restaurants.

The photo on the left shows a pharmacy. On the right is a barber. These are located in the middle of the street. There is also a dentist next to these buildings.

These are restaurants and cafes. The one on the left is a Kushikatsu restaurant. On the right is a cafá where you can have light meal like sandwiches anytime.

A typical shotengai has most of these, and larger ones may have more of the entertainments such as book shops and game centers where teenagers gather to have fun. Shotengai is very convenient for the locals, because they can get different kinds of items at once.
Festivals are often held in shotengai. Lots of stalls open into the night in and around the grounds of shotengai. Japanese people feel very familiar with shotengai in many ways.

Child Research Net would like to thank the Doshisha International Junior/Senior High School and Haruka Mori, student and author, for permitting reproduction of this article on the CRN web site.


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