Sunamachi Ginza

photo by Kentin · CC BY-SA 3.0

670 m and about 180 shitamachi shops; discounts on the 10th of every month

Along the street's 670 metres run about 180 family-run shops (fishmongers, greengrocers, fried-food shops, sweet shops) in the heart of a shitamachi neighbourhood, Tokyo's old working-class low city. The name ‘Ginza’ is a playful borrowing from the luxury district: foreign tourists remain rare here. On the 10th of every month selected shops offer special discounts, the ‘バカ値市’.

A shopping street that grew up in the Kita-Suna neighbourhood, with about 180 independent shops according to Kōtō City (the introduction to the Japanese Wikipedia page counts about 140 instead). Unlike many other shōtengai (neighbourhood shopping streets) in Tokyo, it has no covered arcade over the street.

ℹ️ The shops have no common opening hours: most open from 10:00–11:00 and close around 17:00–18:00, so the best time to visit is mid-morning or at lunchtime. On the 10th of every month, a discount market (バカ値市). No covered arcade: avoid it on days of heavy rain. Public street, no ticket.

🚉 Nishi-ojima · 17 min walk

Sources: city.koto.lg.jp · sunamachi-ginza.com

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