The longest shopping street in Japan

The Tenjinbashi shopping street in Osaka is the longest shopping street in Japan. Its length is 2.6km and the street is filled with shops and restaurants on both-sides. Moreover, it is arcaded, so then you can enjoy strolling, eating and shopping in any weather conditions.


Liveliness is a keyword of Osaka, it is seen in any area in Osaka, for example, Shinsaibashi or Dotombori, and yet the liveliness on the Tenjinbashi shopping street is historically the starting point in Osaka. Because the street includes praying, laughing, pathos and satire, in fact, the Tenjinbashi Street is the starting point of Osaka citizens’ humanity.

The forming of the Tenjinbashi Street

The Tenjinbashi Street was built in the Edo Period in the seventeenth century. A dealing center-market of vegetables was founded near the street and many vegetable shops were built on the street. The more shoppers came here, the more other kinds of shops and restaurants were made. As a result, the street grew like the growth of a tree from a trunk. There were many temples and shrines on the crossing street, so the citizens were satisfied with praying. Moreover, the citizens desired other heartfelt satisfaction, it was entertainment. Many theaters of comedy, “yose” in Japanese were built and the citizens enjoyed the representative entertainment at that time, “rakugo” in Japanese, the entertainment of a professional talker who tells a short comedic story by himself acting as several people.

A protagonist of a rakugo story is usually a stupid man, who is an idler, a man judging prematurely or a meddlesome man. A rakugo story makes progress with comedic exchange of words and a small disorder around him. But yet people around him lightly rebuke him, but never criticize him and basically accept him. The world of rakugo is in peace and a society where all the people, even if a man is stupid in characteristic, can live.


Rakugo has many elements of Japanese culture, smallness of a story scene, seamless story without clear distinction between one person and others, strolling view point in a story and the significance of space, “ma” in Japanese between people or scenes. It is a kind of comedic scrolling picture. Speaking ultimately, those elements contribute to “the connection”.

The continuous festival for over millennium and the origin of the area

Every summer the Tenjin festival is held around Okawa River which runs in the mid town of Osaka. It includes fire-works, enjoyment in ship on Okawa River and strolling among the night shops. It is said that it is one of the most famous three festivals in Japan and it is the greatest summer sign of Osaka.


The starting point time of the Tenjin Festival originates to the ninth century. And yet, the origin is not for pleasure but for calming the angry dead spirit of a historically unlucky man because of his genius.

In the ninth century in the Heian Period a super intelligent man, Michizane Sugawara, worked in the Imperial Court. He was favored by the then emperor and he succeeded in achieving the highest post. However, the most powerful family, Fujiwara Family, was strongly jealous of him and exiled him to Fukuoka in Kyushu.


He was deeply disappointed and he died with resentment in a deserted house in Fukuoka. He was transformed into an angry deity, “onryo” in Japanese. And the angry deity of Michizane with resentment devastated a part of the Imperious House and killed some people of the Fujiwara Family. The then Imperial Court members built Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto and enshrined the angry spirit, and magnified his intelligence and his works, in addition, people prayed to the deity for sharing his intelligence.


Tenmangu Shrine on the Tenjinbashi Street is in a place where Michizane visited in the middle of the disappointed one way journey to the place of his death. After his death the then citizens of Osaka established the shrine and prayed for calming his spirit. Moreover they especially worshipped his spirit on the day of his death every year, finally which became the origin of the Tenjin Festival.

Nowadays the deity of Michizane is worshipped for the best deity of intelligence. Especially for students who will apply for entrance examinations, Tenmangu, Kitano Tenmangu or all the other Tenmangu in each place in Japan is the most important praying place for their success. In January before the entrance examination season Tenmangu is filled with students’ worry, hope and will.