TOKYO, Kyodo News Plus - Four street associations around Tokyo's popular Asakusa tourist district have joined together to promote what they claim is the longest shopping street in Japan.
The four associations, whose streets form an approximately 3 km-long thoroughfare in Tokyo's Taito Ward, established Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai in November, a committee to promote the thoroughfare as Japan's longest "shotengai," or shopping street.
Stretching approximately north-south between the districts of Minowa and Kuramae, Japan's so-called longest shopping street, according to Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai, follows the path of Tokyo Metropolitan Road Route 462, also known as Kokusai-dori Avenue.
The thoroughfare surpasses what is thought to have been the previous holder of the unofficial "longest shotengai" title, Tenjinbashisuji, a 2.6 km-long shopping arcade in Osaka.
At the heart of the thoroughfare under Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai is an avenue which catches foot traffic spilling out of the attractions of Asakusa.
Asakusa Kokusai-dori, a few blocks west of the landmark Sensoji temple, is sometimes referred to as Beat Street. The area was once a production center for taiko drums and home to other music-related businesses.
Today, Beat Street moves to the rhythms of the modern tourist shuffling between stores while wearing kimono, taking a ride in a jinrikisha rickshaw, or not moving very much at all as they wait in line outside popular restaurants.
The heads of the street associations behind Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai hope to use their recently claimed longest shopping street moniker to drive some of this foot traffic to other areas further north and south, including the quiet blocks off the main thoroughfare itself.
Kousei Ogura, chairman of Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai, said that the purpose of the initiative is revitalization.
"There are some streets which have few stores and can feel a little lonely. We are trying to involve store owners from these areas in our activities, to work together as a community of shotengai," he said.
Ogura, who has been running a bar on Beat Street for over 25 years, estimates his to be one of over 300 shops and restaurants along the entire thoroughfare. Some 280 of these, however, are concentrated around the approximately 850 m-long Asakusa Kokusai-dori. By contrast, Osaka's Tenjinbashisuji packs in around 800 shops and restaurants over a shorter distance and all under one roof.
Ogura accepts that the two shotengai have different profiles – the broad, six-lane thoroughfare of Kokusai-dori Avenue compared to Tenjinbashisuji's narrow, covered arcade. But he also seems to enjoy the reaction of raised eyebrows coming from Osaka at the formation of Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai. Some critics called it crafty to simply join streets together and claim the result as the longest shotengai in Japan, according to Ogura.
"We've received all kinds of opinions, and we are happy to hear them. It must mean that people know about Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai," he said.
Now that word is getting out about Japan's longest shopping street being in Tokyo, Ogura said the committee plans to begin strengthening its reputation by holding events involving business along and around the thoroughfare.
The formation of Tokyo Kokusai-dori Shinko-kai has sparked light-hearted debate as to what constitutes a shotengai. For many Japanese, the image of a shotengai is one of an arcade or covered passage lined with stores and restaurants.
For the purposes of compiling data, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency defines shotengai as shopping districts, including shopping malls, with 30 or more stores, restaurants, and other services in proximity.
In a 2021 survey sent to around 12,000 of the more than 13,000 shotengai identified across Japan, the agency found the average number of shops per shopping district to be around 50.
Statistics, as well as the "shopping street" translation, however, appear to fall short of capturing any nuanced meaning of shotengai, which for Ogura is rooted in a sense of community.
"It's about everyone working together to energize the street. That’s a shotengai," he said.
This article was submitted by a contributing writer for publication on Kyodo News Plus.
