Hiroshima Hondori Shopping Street

Hiroshima Hondori Shopping Street is an arcade shopping street about 577 meters long, stretching from near Peace Memorial Park on the west to just before Hiroshima Kinza-gai Shopping Street on the east. Because it is covered, you can shop without an umbrella even on rainy days. Hiroshima Hondori Shopping Street is the largest shopping street in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions, attracting about 100,000 visitors per day. In the Edo period, it was used as part of the Saigoku Kaido, a major road connecting Kyoto and Dazaifu, and Akamatsu Pharmacy, which has continued since those days, is still operating in the arcade today. The flagship store of the bakery chain Andersen, which reopened after renovation in August 2020, was rebuilt entirely while reusing part of the exterior wall, because the site had formerly been the Mitsui Bank Hiroshima Branch (at the time of the bombing, the Teikoku Bank Hiroshima Branch), an atomic-bombed building. Across the street in Hondori Hills, you can shop at Tayama Stationery for original stationery such as ballpoint pens and fountain pens made with Miyajima deer antlers as the barrel. It’s also recommended to buy stylishly packaged chocolates like "foo CHOCOLATERS" and "USHIO CHOCOLATL" at Nagasakiya, which sells Hiroshima specialties. If you love fashion, try strolling around the Hiroshima PARCO area toward the eastern end.