Japanese Shopping Streets Explained
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2022
- An introduction to shotengai, Japanese shopping streets. I got the idea to make the video after you all watched the videos about a typical Tokyo neighbourhood • What a Typical Tokyo N... and zoning • Why Japan Looks the Wa...
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This kind of shopping has a humanizing effect. You get to know the owners, and they get to know you. It becomes a relationship, not just a transaction. A feeling of community. I miss that.
I totally agree🥂🥗👍
"we would get more customers if only he was normal" Damn, this mum ain't messing around😭😭😭
why are mums always like this TT ___ TT poor guy hahaha
@@_GunpowdertheGabite they have no filter at all Istg😭
When I was a child, I often went to the shotengai.
Unlike chain stores, the interaction between people was very warm.
They often gave me free sweets on my way home from school.
I am sad to say that the number of such shops has been decreasing recently.
If you ever come to Japan, please visit a shotengai !
Thanks for making this video. From Japan.
I lived right next to one in the Ikebukuro area, such a vibrant place!
My heart melts when I see human scaled streets like the one at 9:10. There's something so calming about a street where people can walk and shop with leisure without the stress of fast moving automobiles.
Agreed! And I would probably not be scared at night.
Yes, good point about 'human scaled' environments, a movement which has been gaining recognition in international urban planning. Though we in the US are spoiled regarding 'living space', and the sorta density that is common in Japan might take a bit of 'cultural' adjustment.
check out the channel not just bikes
@@jac1011 I love that channel. A really underrated channel is Dean Bog. He does these short films on neighborhoods in Pittsburg that are excellently done
I live in Europe where we have pedestrianised town centres. When I visited the US for the first time I was shocked how huge everything was, wide roads and urban environment designed for motorists.
Was only intended to play this video as ''background video', but the video got so interesting it became the main activity instead.
This reminds me of the English High St. By the 80's the locally owned high street shops were being replaced with large chain stores and the owners who used to live above them no longer did so but to this day the layout of every high street in England has a lot of similarities to their Japanese equivalent. Back in 1980 the UK did not yet have out of town malls or supermarkets and local people who lived in walking distance of their local high street did pretty much all their shopping there.
That's untrue. We did have "out of town malls" but we refer to them as shopping centres, along with the inner city shopping centres, and they were pretty rare. Not far from me, there are 2 major "out of town malls". One is the Metrocentre located in the outskirts of the teams, Gateshead. There's also Dalton Park located in Durham.
There's also 3 major inner city shopping centres and like 10 smaller inner city shopping centres near me. the big 3 include The Galleries (Washington, sunderland, though this could also be cast as an "out of town malls" cause of the lower living density of washington itself), Eldon Square, Newcastle City Centre and Grainger Street Market ( A permanent indoor market that usually has the same independent* shops inside)
The only issue, unlike over the pond, these were never cheap, so the only places that could afford it were the national and international chains (Like McDonalds, greggs, Next, Curry's, JD Sports etc.) and thus were usually limited in number.
Metrocentre opened it's doors in 1986. What you probably meant, though, was that until the '80's the UK have very few "out of town malls" and the ones that existed were usually located in the south-west of england.
* Most of the stores inside are independant with 1 single exception. Marks and Spencers (Known globally as M&S) was founded there as Marks and Spencers Penny Arcade** and still retains that store to this day.
**a Penny Arcade used to refer to a small independant budget orientated store, much like a modern day poundland/home bargains/poundstretcher/herons/b&m, 100 yen store or dollar store but more independant (as these are national chains as far as I'm aware).
PS Metrocentre (or officially The Metrocentre before INTU's acquisition and then later liquidation of the shopping centre) is indeed one word, I had to double check, as spell checker doesn't identify it as a word.
This market stuff is common everywhere in Eastern Europe and Asia.
I was thinking that it's more like a shopping arcade. There still around in a lot of UK cities. Lots of them have small clothing shop, craft stores and fabric markets. 🙂
Sister knows how to enjoy life and tea guy and mother combo so funny. Regards from Malaysian utuber
My towns high street is still like this 85% independently owned stores and thriving
Walking around shotengai was one of the best parts of visiting Japan. I wish we could have more of a walking-city culture in the US, having to drive everywhere gets so boring and you miss out on the chance to happen upon something you've never seen before
I have to say, I’ve been with your channel since WAY early on and watching your videos now is like watching a professional documentary. Production value has gone way up and it’s just incredible to see how far you’ve come.
Thanks for always uploading such high quality videos on my favorite place on earth :)
The quality of Greg's videos on this channel went from good to great. These aren't "like watching a professional documentary". These are professional documentaries.
The only real problem Greg stumbles over is choosing what to focus on. He needs a marketing consultant/researcher to help him find interesting subjects and stories.
I suppose this channel would be averaging 1 million views per video... if Greg presented more interesting subjects and stories.
It's not a trivial problem to solve, but it's not difficult. Greg simply needs to find the right person to do the job.
@@yekutielbenheshel354 If he were to focus on catering to masses, then we wouldn't have extremely interesting niche and rarely spoken about topics like these. As far as I'm concerned, he should do just what he likes to study about.
@@recyclebinladen5903 If he's content with his current view count then this niche seems reasonable. But there's huge potential to increase viewership. The topics he chooses are generally too boring for many people.
His ramen shop video was great and probably appealed to a wide audience, yet I would guess probably appealed to you too.
@@yekutielbenheshel354 Ah, I see. I wouldn't call them boring though. I really like his videos on zoning, town planning, homelessness and other stuff outside of normal food videos. I absolutely loved his video on Muslims in Japan - and I hope he can do more of such niche topics.
There are so many food oriented content creators out there, I doubt we need any more.
@@recyclebinladen5903 Did you watch the Ramen shop video? It wasn't about food; it was about the struggles of a small businessman trying to earn a living. It was great and extremely popular.
I thought the zoning and homeless videos were great too... but those aren't going to appeal to large numbers of viewers. The best videos for a channel like this are, "Here's what life is like for person A, or person B, or person C" where person A, or person B, or person C live a life that is different and interesting compared to life in, say, the West.
Really enjoyed this video.
While I love the shotengai's atmosphere, I agree that having places to eat and a toilet nearby is key to keeping the crowds coming back. It was an unusual experience having to hunt for a McD for some bladder relief.
Yeah, chains are good for finding a place to relieve yourself! My other go-to's are parks, convenience stores and department stores.
Can you share where the tea shop at the beginning of the great video is or is called?
@@khuynh1987 Darumaya (だるまや餅菓子店) @ Jujo Ginza Shopping Mall
I love seeing Ako in your videos, she always seems so happy and lively. Like a big kid being excited by everything, it's a joy to watch.
Greg really lucked out on her :). It must be a joy to have such a traveling buddy.
Another superbly shot video, thanks.
@@rinu1 I think he’s her sister-in-law?
She seems to be really happy and a very nice friend🥂🥗💫
I got the idea to make the video after you all watched the videos about a typical Tokyo neighbourhood ua-cam.com/video/TheOkz8oF_I/v-deo.html and zoning ua-cam.com/video/wfm2xCKOCNk/v-deo.html It was fun to explore all the different shops in the local shotengai.
😂 my comment just mentioned these past videos you did!
You should do a collaboration with the guy from the Not Just Bikes channel. He's also from Canada and loves walkability considerations.
Hi,
I loved your video
Whst’s the name and adress of the tea shop where you tasted gyokori tea
I want to buy some tea in this shop as I am in Tokyo ..
A truly great, inspirational and knowledgeable made video👏👍
I get the feeling of being right there and learning a lot at the same time🌤️👏😀
The business hours of locally owned shops are so real. I still remember the fried chicken place that was on our way from the airbnb to Dotonbori. We walked by it the first time and it was opened but every subsequent day whenever we walked by it was closed. We left Osaka after a week without knowing how that fried chicken shop taste lol
True, true. I now use Google Maps to check out the shops, their hours, and reviews, especially when I'm visiting an area for the first time.
In my country (Singapore) it's a similar phenomenon with food hawkers (many of whom are selling in purpose-built buildings, while those operating on the streets only do so temporarily e.g. for night market bazaars). On the flip side for shops in shopping malls, their tenancy contract may stipulate when they need to be open
i'll say, these are just the kind of things that international tourists LOVE to visit. Tourists don't wanna go to the mall, they want something they can't get back home and Shotengai are exactly that. I think if the owners want to counteract the big malls, they need to cater to tourists as something special and unique about Japan. I'm sure many shotengai already cater primarily to tourists anyway.
These businesses need local repeat customers. Tourists only stop once or not at all. Most tourists have a been there done that, so many places to explore, no need going back to the same place and if they do come back to a particular store it will be a year or 3 years gap. They can't depend on tourists traffic.
When I lived in Auckland, New Zealand, there was a Queen's arcade at the end of Queen St. in downtown Auckland that had a lot of locally owned shops and only a few brands. I loved walking there and browsing and it had an old records shop as well as a Tabletop game store (located quite appropriately in the basement). If you're ever in Auckland, spend a bit of time there.
High quality as usual, Greg. I’ve always enjoyed wandering around ‘shotengais’, especially the ones in Nagoya and Osaka (the nearest big cities from me). Here in Mie, they’ve been steadily dying since the 90s. BUT, have actually been getting a bit popular again since the pandemic started. My favorite local one (in Yokkaichi) has a craft beer bar that kind of expands out into the street, like a covered biergarten. Well-ventilated, social drinking for the pandemic era! 🍻
I think shotengai provide something we’ve keenly felt the loss of and need for during the pandemic: community. When the shop owners live where they work, they are part of the community. There is much more exchanged than merchandise and money. I don’t think we realised how much we, as humans, need that until a couple of years ago.
@@user-no2mz9hl4f Agreed!!
My all time favourite video of yours was the one about Tokyo Zoning so I’m stoked to see this one! Awesome work as always
Glad you're enjoying!
These walks for me are fascinating, seeing how communities from foreign shores live and where they do their daily shopping 🛍 in Japan. I'm so glad your able to enjoy showing us these amazing places thanks, I just love these walks.
I love that this channel is a mix of walking and interviewing people - my two favorite Japan-related genres on UA-cam!
The convenience of living next to so many useful shops and restaurants is exactly what I'd wish for. I love the idea of having my favorite eateries and snack shops just outside my door.
I love shotengai but they do need to have places to sit, talk, and eat. In that sense, they will need to evolve. People want something that is the street equivalent of a friendly neighborhood coffee shop.
Now that I think about it, Tokyo doesn't have much in the way of public spaces, does it? Is that more of a Tokyo, or a Japan thing? I can't recall seeing many public benches, and certainly no parks or squares with a bunch of seating. I also don't remember seeing any outdoor dining. For some reason I'd never thought about it till now.
@@SnakebitSTI I think it is only the super busy places. Even in America and Europe, the busy places to this: Move people in and out fast. There are other locations to hang around though. Japan actually has amazing public spaces. This includes Tokyo. There are giant parks to sit around and various other squares and plazas to hang out at. It is just that busy businesses might not have the space to just let people hang out. I think this means that just as in any city, just be aware where the public spaces are and take your food and friends there. Or find a less busy coffee shop, though businesses might not always want people just loitering around.
I used to live in Kawasaki while I was studying in Japan, and would often enjoy walking around the local shotengai near the station after classes. About 80% of the stores are local mom-and-pop stores, I think. And some of the best ramen I had can usually be found in these independent stores.
Thank you for this fascinating in-depth look at the issues surrounding shotengai. I lived for several years in Okachimachi, near Ueno, just steps from Satake Shotengai (said to be the second-oldest in Tokyo) and everything you discussed could be found there--including shuttered shops, new arrivals, big apartment buildings, and issues with a lack of foot traffic (it's about a 10-minute walk from JR Okachimachi Station). The older shopkeepers say the area used to be much more bustling. Where I live now in Toyama, the situation is even more dire, and I'd say at least 50% of the shops in our neighborhood shotengai are now permanently shuttered. An Aeon Mall located a 20-minute drive away hasn't helped the situation.
10:00 This seems a good suggestion. Imagine a place where instead of a shop it was a resting area with tables where people can eat what they bought. This would decrease the problem of "not knowing what the shops have to offer", customers could see what other customers are buying and share recommendations.
edit: oh, by the way, what are shopping streets like were I'm from? Hum... I think here in Brazil we have two types. One is called "Calçadão", that it's bunch of streets close to the traffic with shops only. It's not as organized was these shotengai looks but it works. On Calçadão there may be big chain stores but most are small stores with all it's attractions, and because the streets are narrower and cozier and there aren't nearly as many as like shotengai those places tend to be very, very crowded. Maybe because of this the inverse is happening, the Calçadão that I know and frequent is becoming to crowded to the point you could call it hellish, hard to shop there.
The other type is "Marcadão". It's usually a covered area with stores, usually more traditional and handmade stores. It's common for these Mercadão to concentrate shops selling products from other regions of the country, most of them from the North and Northeast.
I find a unique charm in all of the smaller independent shops that have a story to tell and have unique things that not many chain stores can replicate!
I'm loving Akoさん in these videos! Miss the kids, but I'm glad they're doing what they want to do.
A fascinating story, because I live in a small city in the western US, near a shopping street like this, although very American in its operation. When I was young, this street had many small businesses patronized by locals, mostly white-owned. Since I have grown up, most of the businesses have been taken over by Southeast Asian immigrants, usually operating their own style of business. They have brought their own cultures, including New Years celebrations, and they are responsible and progressive business owners. There is a large mall and chain stores nearby, but they persist, and have dealt with the growing community successfully.
the type of shops that will be able to survive was that izakaya you showed because of their dynamic nature of dishes with respect to the season plus they feel comfartable.
As time is changing shotengai need to adapt to their audience/consumers.
I hope they keep existing as they are a part of history
I live in Osaka and shoutengai are probably my favorite part of living in here. I've been known to walk a few kilometers out of the way to visit a new-to-me one. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised like the Komagawa Nakano shoutengai, which became our main produce shopping spot, and sometimes I'm sad and disappointed like the Hirano shoutengai, where most stores have been closed for around 20 years. Some are great people watching places like the longest in Japan, Tenjinbashisuji and others are modern malls like Shinsaibashisuji.
If you want to get the pulse of every day life in Japan, visit and shop the shoutengai. The owners are always willing to help and Osakans being much friendlier than Tokyoites, will go out of their way to chat you up and try to make you laugh.
Your videos are absolutely out of this world, they make me feel tocuhed, relaxed and willing to overcome my fears, thank you for this hardwork you put into everything you do! ❤
Shotengai might be something we could try with a little more effort here in North America. It could be a way to revitalize downtown areas.
Arigatogozaimashita Greg-san for the video. Excellent content! 👍P.s.Thanks to Ako-san as well for her contribution.
Here in the uk, we have a similar concept called High Streets, which are streets dominated by or exclusively shops. In the UK, unless it is located in a speed zone (which is an area of a town or city that is set to 1 specific speed limit. In most cases this is 20 or 30 MPH (AKA 32 or 48 km/h). Examples of large High Streets near (but not close to) me would be Birtley Highstreet (Located along Durham Road in Birtley Town Centre) Chester-le-street Market Place (in County Durham) and Newcastle Northumberland Street/Grey Street/Market Street (In newcastle city centre) Usually the biggest high streets are in cities, with exception of super large towns like birtley or civil parishes that cover a largely populated area like chester-le-street. Most towns with have a smaller High Street with say like 5 businesses and a Aldi and/or Lidl. Wrekenton Highstreet is an example of a smaller high street. Gateshead High Street & Trinity Square is another.
I'd like to experience them some day!
I really do like shotengai and arcades. They have such a unique feeling to them and sometimes a little magical.
In my area, we do have a couple of streets that have a mix of chain stores and smaller local stores, but nowhere near the same feeling.
Cheers to Ako for living her best life! 🍻
There are benefits for helping Greg.
I wanna go to Japan and visit all these places so badly. They put so much care and love into what they do. It’s so nice to see. We should support them all we can!
My wife and I was fortunate to visit Japan before the pandemic. Grew up in NYC, visited Europe, and now living in the Midwest of the U.S. Japan is still my favorite.
This is kind of how bazareks look like in Poland, on a much smaller scale and with less variety of shops but it's pretty close. They are often combinad with farmer's markets. It's usually fruit and veg stores (either run by farmers themselves or imported), small grocery stores (sometimes with imported foods, usually from Germany or Ukraine), butchers, clothes stores (often cheap clothes but it CAN be niche chain shops as well), cafes, bakeries, patisseries, toy stores, healthy food stores, medicine shops etc. Pretty much anything can be bought there.
Ah, interesting!
Oh yes, trying your first jeans on, standing on a piece of cardbord, hidden from the rest of shoppers by a blanket of curtain - unforgetable.
Wow wish I had this here! So interesting!
Shame to see so many shotengai going under in favor of generic, chain stores. As someone living in Canada where everything looks the same in the suburb (in Ontario), I prefer these types of streets much more the separated houses and malls we have due to zoning. They build a local community and these types of stores always have products you can't get elsewhere.
Please never stop making these video.
Enjoyed this video. Thank you! Love to see more of these documentaries!
the video felt so fun to watch, the fact u interviewed them all added so much, knowing what their opinions are and more!
ty for making this video
If those shuttered shotengai spots can be converted to rest stop areas with seats n vending machines, this could be an income stream without active participation, especially when it’s a busy shotengai without areas to sit and rest.
This episode is very fun and warm. Thanks!
As always, you have done a very thorough job of explaining things. Thank you.
Yay I been looking forward to you posting a new video
fantastic. thanks greg!
This was a great video; thank you!
These sort of small shopping street is just so comforting to see!
That was a great vlog for many reasons, thanks.
Hey, you must have been in my neighborhood, Greg! I recognized the 東十条銀座商店街 which I pass through every weekday, in the video.
And as always: great work, great video!
I’ve always been fascinated with shotengai and I’m so glad to learn about them more! Thank you this is so interesting!
Tiptop video as usual Greg. Thanks for sharing.
Really fascinating episode, enjoying the content you're making 👍
Excellent documentary video yet again! Thank you!
Thank you for another excellent documentary. Keep up the good work, Greg!
This was very interesting! Thank you for creating this video. 🙏
always love the cinematic at the end!
Beautiful work - always a pleasure to watch !
I always enjoy your videos. Thank you. 😊
Cheers Ako 🍺 thank you for showing us around 🙏🙂
This is probably your best video yet. I love everything about this. The topic, the picture it paints, the experience, the shots, the interviews and the relevant information and history sprinkled along the vid. Masterful work.
Thanks for the wonderful vid
I loooooved walking along and buying random foods in the Shotengai when I was in Japan in 2017. I wish Japan would fully open again soon to tourist.
I think its fully opened now!
@@nanamiharuka3269 right in time for inflation
I love your content and channel. Keep up the great work. Much love from NYC!
we have a lot of shops that have closed on our shopping street, but I love the atmosphere these places have. We still have a traditional 雁木通り, maybe the oldest or longest in Japan. That could be an interesting video, too 😊
Great video! I love this channel, please keep making these fascinating mini docs about life in Japan 😀
Every video of yours is a full on documentary, it's just so impressive. Well done.
5:25 i hope that guy gets to share his tea with the world that made me happy
Amazing video as usual.
I think these shotengais offer a unique experience where every shop has its own signature. I hope that all of these shotengais will continue on in the future.
love the quality of this video, no click-bait, no annoying music, well-edited and well-researched, thanks Greg
very informative, thank you for sharing.
Love your videos with deep topic analysis. You should also publish it as a book.
I like that you speak to locals and share their thoughts
I really love your videos. Highly informative and makes me love Japan more and more.✌
I finally have time for watch whether I want and I really enjoy and appreciate your videos ♡. Thank me so much ✨
Thank you Greg for showing us the Shotengai.
I love your videos. I love learning about Japanese culture. Thank you ❤
Thanks for making this video. It reminded me of the shopping street where my grandparents used to live. I'll have to revisit it next time I go back to Japan.
Great video as always. Love the idea of shotengai and am so tired of our sprawl of big box chain stores and parking lots here in the states.
Can’t wait to visit Japan and explore !
Thanks for the guidance X
Another great video. I think I written this before, but the production quality of your stuff is amazing.
what a great and insightful video
Love this! Lovely video. 30 years after I lived in Osaka, I was able to take a quick trip back to my old neighbourhood and was sad to find that my local shoutengai was basically shuttered up, with just a few sad shops left. I had such great memories of the shops I would frequent so close to my "mansion."
Thanks for showing these and explaining everything about them, it’s one of the reasons why we wanna move
I loved this video. I felt nostalgia for the UK high streets of old before every street became the same with chain stores which are also now failing.
I LOVE this protecting of small shops and businesses!
Places like these are the flames keeping the sense of community warm and alive. We have similar streets where I'm from but more about hustle and bustle.
Awesome video, thank you
I would be stopping to check out everything 😍! The culture, the people, the language (the collective history!) just all create such a unique experience.
Great video! I enjoyed it thoroughly 😌
The demographic angle and land planning aspects added to this I found very interesting. I almost didn't watch it. ALL of Greg's vids are interesting, I will keep this in mind. 😁
A thoroughly enjoyable look at old and traditional Japan. Good interviews and excellent content, not to mention the contributions of Ako who seemed to be enjoying herself 🎉. Good work, Greg!
Great video. Also, the tea expert was so right. Your sister in law has an truly amazing and warming smile.
Great video!
Excellent video, thanks!
Really enjoyed watching this.
Reminds me of Tamako Market!!
new video nice! been awhile since ive watched your videos!
First time to comment. Let me say I appreciate your content and watch them eagerly.
An especially enjoyable episode! It reminded me of actually being in Japan, a country really quite unlike any other I have visited.
Well this is strange - I'm only aware of two english language videos on shotengai (this one in Jujo, and one from Paolo in Tokyo, on Happy Road in Oyama) and I used to work on both of them. Very strange seeing them again, they definitely seem quieter than they used to be. Extreme nostalgia for me though.
Quite a coincidence!