Hankyu Okamoto Station (阪急岡本駅), just 7 minutes from Sannomiya (or 20 min from Umeda), and JR Settsu-Motoyama (20 min from Osaka Station) serve a quiet neighborhood with a very special shopping district.

Almost the entire area between the two stations is a pedestrian-priority shopping zone (highlighted below in cyan).  It is somewhat of a “University Village”, with many cafes and shops catering to students of several nearby colleges.  This shopping area occupies essentially all of Okamoto 1 Chome (岡本１丁目).The streets above are highlighted hierarchically as follows:
– Magenta:    Hankyu Okamoto Station and JR Settsu-Motoyama Station (摂津本山駅).
– Cyan:           High volume of pedestrian traffic, low volume of one-way car traffic.
– Red:             “Busy” Boulevards.
– Orange:       “Quiet” Boulevards.
– Yellow:        Woonerfs & Narrow Streets.
– Green:         Laneways.  Only a fraction (1/3?) are highlighted.

Note that the highlighted area lies within two separate islands of walkability.

The Hierarchy of Japanese Streets categorizes the highlighted streets as follows* (with stats given for this area specifically):

* NOTES:
1) Only a fraction (1/3?) of the Laneways are counted and highlighted (green).
2) Most of the SLOW streets of Okamoto are #curbless, stone paved commercial streets with high pedestrian traffic, but -unlike most SLOW streets- they have no bollards, and very few trees.
3) The “Quiet Boulevards” of Okamoto generally lack bollards and street trees.

Streets Hierarchy, Illustrated

Level 5, high volume of pedestrian traffic, low volume of one-way car traffic:

Note the #curbless, facade-to-facade stone pavement, and the high density of shops.

Level 4, Busy Boulevards:

The density of shops, cyclists, and pedestrians seems particularly low on the Busy Boulevards of Okamoto.  Perhaps Busy Boulevards should be demoted to the bottom of the hierarchy in this case… This highlights the pattern wherein the roads with the most vehicles are relatively peripheral to the pedestrian experience.

Level 3, Quiet Boulevards:

Level 2, Woonerfs and Narrow Streets:

Level 1, Residential Laneways:

Wayfinding:

High intensity development near the JR station:

A trendy cafe in Okamoto 1 Chome (note the 3 mamacheri bicycles):