Donryū Yokochō

A market from 1947, burnt down in January 1982 and rebuilt within a year: reopened in 2021.

The alley began in 1947 as a post-war market, the 呑龍マーケット; a fire destroyed it completely in January 1982, and the owners and regulars rebuilt it by December of the same year as 呑竜仲店. Today's version, 呑龍横丁, reopened on 27 November 2021 after a restoration that kept the retro atmosphere of the Shōwa years and brought in around fifteen venues (izakaya, bars, ramen, yakitori), run by a consortium of business owners together with the Maebashi Smart City project.

呑龍横丁 is in the centre of Maebashi, near the station, and takes its name from the Buddhist monk Donryū, who is associated with the area. The first covered market here, the 呑龍マーケット, opened in 1947 amid the post-war rubble; a fire destroyed it completely in January 1982 and it was rebuilt by December of the same year as 呑竜仲店, an alley of ‘back-street’ eating and drinking places (路地裏飲食店街). The current project has renovated it, keeping the narrow layout of the covered alleys and its down-to-earth character, and reopened it on 27 November 2021 with around fifteen places to eat and drink.

ℹ️ The public alley can always be walked through; opening hours are those of the individual venues, mostly in the evening (izakaya, bars, ramen). No single opening time is given for the alley as a whole.

🚉 Chuo-Maebashi · 7 min walk

Sources: donryu-yokocho.com · sanpototabi.blog.jp

All series · Open the map