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Tengachaya Shopping Street is a representative shopping street of Osaka and even Japan. Stretching approximately 2.6 kilometers from Tengachaya 1-chome to 7-chome, it is the longest shopping street in Japan. Walking the entire length takes about 40 minutes. The history of Tengachaya Shopping Street is long-standing, with the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine, dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the god of learning, located nearby. Therefore, the 2-chome area serves as the approach to the shrine. It is said that the continuous flow of worshippers contributed to the prosperity of this area, leading to its gradual development into the bustling shopping street it is today during the Meiji era.
There are over 800 shops and restaurants along the shopping street. Among them are popular sushi restaurants with long queues, trendy Western-style restaurants, curry rice specialty shops, and elegant retro cafes. Local delicacies such as takoyaki, fried meatballs, crepes, and taiyaki can be purchased to enjoy while strolling. On both sides of the street, there are old-fashioned public dining halls, a blacksmith's knife shop, a tea shop that started in the first year of the Meiji era, second-hand bookstores, as well as clothing stores selling Osaka's famous tiger-striped T-shirts at super cheap prices, pottery shops, and various unique boutique stores.
Every year on July 24th and 25th, one of Japan's three major festivals, the "Tenjin Matsuri," is held. The local portable shrine parades through Tengachaya Shopping Street, and the appearance of the eye-catching female shrine bearers adds to the festive atmosphere, bringing the celebration to a climax. The sounds of vendors selling various foods like okonomiyaki and Frankfurt sausages, along with the continuous flow of people, fill the entire shopping street with vibrancy.
