One of the oldest shopping streets in Japan, Asakusa Nakamise-dori stretches 250 meters from the Kaminarimon gate of Sensoji Temple to the Hozomon gate, and is lined with long-established Japanese sweets stores and souvenir stores on both sides of the approach.
Visitors can enjoy traditional delicacies such as ningyo-yaki (doll pancakes), croquettes, steamed meat buns, menchikatsu (fried pork cutlets), daikaimono (sweet potatoes), taiyaki (fish-shaped pancakes), fried buns, iced monaka (fried buns), and gelato.
It is considered one of the oldest shopping streets in Japan, formed in the precincts and approaches to the temple during the Edo period.
In the Edo period, stores near the Nioimon gate from Denpoin were called “yakudana,” and there were 20 water teahouses called “nijukenchaya” in the area.
Stores closer to Kaminarimon were called hira-mise, and sold toys, confections, and souvenirs.
In 1885, a new red-brick building was completed and the modern Nakamise was born.
The building was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and was reborn in 1925 as a Momoyama-style vermilion-lacquered reinforced concrete shopping arcade.
3 minutes walk from Asakusa Station on Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
3 minutes walk from Asakusa Station Exit A4 on Toei Asakusa Line
3 minutes on foot from Asakusa Station on the Tobu Isezaki Line
10 minutes walk from Tsukuba Express Asakusa Station