Sembayashi Shopping Street

Senbayashi Shopping Street is a covered arcade in Asahi Ward, Osaka City, and—along with Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street and Komagawa Shopping Street—is known as one of Osaka’s three major shopping streets. Stretching about 700 meters between Senbayashi Station (Keihan Railway) and Senbayashi-Ōmiya Station (Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line), it was spared from wartime air raids, and around 200 shops remain in a prewar streetscape. The arcade is lined with many stores, including casual eateries for street food, drugstores, hair salons, bookstores, and florists. More than 16,000 people live within roughly 500 meters of the shopping street, making it a densely populated area. The street is also known as the place where Daiei opened its first store in 1957; even when the broader Asahi Ward area was primarily residential, the arcade served as a beloved shopping destination for everyday necessities. Later, after Nichii opened nearby, price competition between supermarkets and local shops led it to be called “Japan’s cheapest shopping street.” In 2014, it was also selected as one of the “30 Shopping Streets Doing Their Best.”