Exploring the Hanwa Shotenkai, Osaka
The Hanwa Shotenkai is one of the older shotenkai, or shopping streets, in Osaka.
Situated near the Tennoji Railway Station and the Tennoji Zoo. This shotenkai is primarily populated by shops selling cheap tradtional Japanese snacks, such as rice crackers and dried squid etc and restaurants and bars. It's a great place to wander around for a bit, or to grab a drink and a bite to eat!
It's a bit older and less popular than the areas near the centre of the city. The renovations, covered roadways and signage gives it a bit of a post-apocalyptic atmosphere. It wouldn't be out of place in an SF film or anime, indeed many such stories take place with this kind of backdrop.
Since the restaurants and bars are very narrow, it is good marketing to post the menu on the outside of the bar!
Through the open doors we can see that there's just enough room to stand or perch on a stool at the counter.
The staff were quite friendly and I'll try to get back there to have a drink or two, unfortunately I was on my way to a work related party and couldn't spend much time.
Even with graffiti on the walls, the bicycles are parked neatly out of the way and the street has been swept clean.
I hope you enjoyed this post! I certainly enjoyed exploring this area of the city!
fell like a nice place
It really is!
I have never visited there before it is quite dangerous at night time.
I took these pictures at around 6:00pm, I think that early it's still pretty safe. If it's later in the day, go with a few friends and I think you should be fine. Other places with similar atmosphere and places to eat but with more people, Namba on either side of the retail shopping street, or Umeda to the north of the JR station. Then again, Osaka is a great place to eat and most places are near areas where you can get almost anything!
I will try to go there with my bicycle, thank you for information.