Category: arcade

arcade, narrow streets

Island of Walkability: Onomichi (尾道)

Most of the commercial life of Onomichi is concentrated in a compact strip about 6,400 feet long, varying from ~200 to ~1,000 feet in width.   The fully roofed (アーケード) portion of Onomichi’s central shopping street (商店街) is about 3,000 feet long. This commercial core is separated from the waterfront by two lanes of traffic (one lane in each direction) with a relatively high speed limit (40 … Continue reading Island of Walkability: Onomichi (尾道)

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arcade

Sasebo – 佐世保

Sasebo is a small city with a vibrant commercial core.  Most stores and businesses are within a couple blocks of the 20 minute walk shown below: The main commercial area is unified by a continuously roofed arcade (全蓋アーケード) fully three fifths of a mile in length.  It is managed by two Shotengai Associations. Sankacho (aka Sun Plaza) in the NW half: Yonkacho in the SE half: The following diagram … Continue reading Sasebo – 佐世保

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Kobe: Itayado Arcades (板宿商店街)

Itayado Hon-dori (板宿本通) runs north from Itayado Station, and together with a number of branch arcades, it connects 18 city blocks with a continuous glass roof (with the proviso that Shin-machi-dori is not fully connected, strictly speaking). At ~640 feet long, Itayado Hon-dori is one of the shortest arcades in Kobe.  Altogether, this group of arcades has a combined length of only ~1900 feet.  And yet, as … Continue reading Kobe: Itayado Arcades (板宿商店街)

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Kobe: Shinkaichi & Shinsen-ichiba (新開地・新鮮市場)

Green: covered arcades. Orange: slow street (curves have been deliberately added to street to slow traffic). Blue: underground halls and malls attached to subway stations. Stats: Length: 5,450′(from north end of arcade to south end of highlighted slow street). Spans roughly 1/2 the total width of Kobe (from the mountains to the sea). Change in elevation: 60′. The arcades running from Shinkaichi 3-chome to the Shin-Minato canal in Higashiyama-cho have … Continue reading Kobe: Shinkaichi & Shinsen-ichiba (新開地・新鮮市場)

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Kyoto Photo Tour: Shopping Arcades – 商店街

Kyoto has a cluster of three arcades.  The longest is the Teramachi Arcade, which runs parallel to the Shinkyogoku Arcade, and orthogonal to the relatively short Cupola Sanjo Arcade. East end of Cupola Sanjo: North end of Teramachi Arcade (looking south): North end of Teramachi Arcade – just inside: . South end of Teramachi Arcade (looking north): South end of Shinkyogoku Arcade (looking north, with … Continue reading Kyoto Photo Tour: Shopping Arcades – 商店街

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Link: Pedestrian Arcades (Shotengai)

“Shōtengai, sometimes referred to as arcades in English, are focal points of community life in Japan. They come covered and open air. Some may be formally pedestrianized either all or part of the day, while the remainder usually become de facto pedestrian, as the narrow lane and heavy volume of foot and bicycle traffic preclude all but the most determined drivers. After the large umbrella … Continue reading Link: Pedestrian Arcades (Shotengai)

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Additional Readings: Motomachi Shopping Arcade

Excellent collection of Motomachi photos on TripAdvisor.com: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298562-d2558881-Reviews-Kobe_Motomachi_Shopping_Street-Kobe_Hyogo_Prefecture_Kinki.html . A video tour starting from outside the east end entrance: . A walk through Motomachi, Sannomiya Center Street, and Sannomiya Station underground arcades (Santika/さんちか), ending at Mint Kobe: . Japanese Language Readings: An edited video with better audio quality, starting from Motomachi 5-Chome (most of the video is inside of Pizza Bar Napoli): . A list … Continue reading Additional Readings: Motomachi Shopping Arcade

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