Hamanomachi Arcade

photo by Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by Suikotei · CC BY 4.0

The whole street is National Route 324: pedestrian-only, except from 5:00 to 10:00 in the morning.

The whole covered arcade is officially a section of National Route 324: a case that is all but unique in Japan, a shopping street that holds national road status while remaining pedestrian-only, except from 5:00 to 10:00 in the morning, when vehicles can drive through it. Residents jokingly call it 酷道 (‘terrible road’), a pun on 国道 (‘national road’).

Nagasaki's main shopping street, which grew from the Meiji period onwards, when the area, once facing the port and later reclaimed, filled up with shops. Selected in 2009 as one of the ‘77 shopping streets that are giving it their all’ nationwide, it remains one of the few Japanese arcades that are still lively, while other cities are seeing theirs close.

ℹ️ Always open, free of charge; the shops have their own opening hours.

🚉 Hamano-machi Arcade · 4 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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