Nipponbashi refers to the bridge over the Dotonbori River along Sakaisuji Street, and the area up to the Nipponbashisuji Shopping Street. This area is now commonly known as “Denden Town”.

Nipponbashi prospered as an inn town in the Edo period (1603-1867), and from the Meiji to Taisho period (1868-1912), it was one of Osaka’s leading commercial areas with stores selling secondhand clothing, antiques, and daily necessities. A five-story building called “Gwanboukaku” was built, rare at the time, and today you can see exhibits and items of those days in the “Fifth Floor Department Store.

In the Taisho era (1912-1926), Nipponbashi was a prosperous old bookstore district, but in the Showa era (1926-1989), radio, phonograph, and record stores appeared, and after World War II, the number of stores selling radio and radio parts increased. Later, the boom in refrigerators, televisions, and washing machines led to a rapid increase in stores selling home appliances, making it famous as “Electric Town”.

Nipponbashisuji Shopping Street  https://www.nippombashi.jp

In addition to stores selling air conditioners, audio products, PCs, game consoles, smart phones, digital home appliances, and other electrical products in general, there are also specialty stores selling cameras, PC peripherals, and parts, making this area a must for electronic gadget enthusiasts.

In recent years, the area has slowly become famous not only as “Electric Town” but also as “Otaku Town” due to the rapid growth of multimedia-related stores that sell game software, animation-related goods, and hobby goods.