Shopping Streets

From food to clothing to daily necessities, you can find anything you need at a Japanese shopping street, a long road lined with all kinds of stores. There are 13,000 of them across Japan. Many shopping streets were destroyed during World War II, but afterwards they bounced back stronger than ever. Recently, however, shopping streets have been in decline. This decline has prompted various efforts at revival, from radical renovations to massive matchmaking events. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, our theme is shopping streets. We'll explore their history, their role in Japanese life, and also the people working to ensure they have a future.