Shotengai night street scene

During the last years, visiting the smaller cities I witnessed that, unfortunately, year after year many shotengai (the Japanese shopping arcades) became less and less animated. I also noticed that in some cases, although the shopping arcade is still busy, many traditional shops disappeared, being replaced by modern stores offering products sought for by the new wave of foreign tourists, mostly electronics and cosmetics...

Fortunately there are still exceptions to this trend, and you can still find the old shotengai atmosphere in some cities. I took this photo in Namba, Osaka. The city benefited a lot from the new influx of tourists, but some shopping arcades managed to maintain their old appearance.