Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street

Shinsaibashi-suji

The Osaka audio-guided tour takes you to Shinsaibashi-suji, one of the liveliest shopping streets of the city. This large covered gallery of about six hundred metres is a veritable playground for lovers of shopping and discovery.

Four centuries of commerce

The name Shinsaibashi comes from a bridge built in 1622 by a merchant, Okada Shinsai, to cross a canal now disappeared. Around this bridge, businesses multiplied, and the street quickly became a major shopping centre in the Edo period. Four centuries later, the spirit has remained the same: international brands, drugstores filled with Japanese cosmetics, fashion boutiques, hundred-yen shops, souvenirs and cafés mingle under the glass roof that has protected the street for decades.

What there is to see

The glass roof makes the street pleasant in all weather. Going north, one glimpses the Daimaru department store, elegant and historic, a symbol of upscale commerce in Osaka since the eighteenth century; to the south, the street guides naturally towards Dōtonbori and its neon lights. Between shops, cafés and restaurants hidden upstairs, Shinsaibashi-suji is the ideal place for shopping and for observing Osaka life.

Practical information

Shinsaibashi-suji is a covered shopping gallery of about six hundred metres, in the heart of Osaka, linking the north of the district to Dōtonbori. It can be walked freely on foot at all hours and on the level; its glass roof protects from bad weather. The shops follow their own hours.

Where does the name Shinsaibashi come from?

From a bridge built in 1622 by the merchant Okada Shinsai, to cross a canal now disappeared.

What can you find at Shinsaibashi-suji?

Fashion boutiques, drugstores, hundred-yen shops, souvenirs and cafés, as well as the historic Daimaru department store.