Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street

Starting at Tenjinbashi and stretching north to Tenjinbashisuji 7-chome, this shopping district is approximately 2.6 kilometers long. It is said to be the longest in Japan, and it takes about 40 minutes to walk its entire length.An “O-mukae” doll is displayed above the entrance, and as soon as you step into the arcade, you’ll find roughly 800 shops lined up—including old-fashioned diners, delis, cutlery shops run by a family of swordsmiths for generations, a tea shop founded in the first year of the Meiji era, as well as stores selling tofu, croquettes, pottery, and kimonos.It began as a thriving town in front of “Osaka Tenmangu,” a shrine in 2-chome dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the god of learning, during the Edo period, and developed into the shopping street it is today after the Meiji era began.At the “Osaka Museum of Living: Past and Present” in 6-chome, the atmosphere of this town from the Edo period through the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras is recreated. During the “Tenjin Festival” held every year on July 24 and 25, local mikoshi (portable shrines) parade through the area, and the streets come alive with street stalls and entertainment.