Japan’s “shōtengai,” or shopping arcades, typically a covered approach to a station lined by small shops, as well as its high streets, have increasingly come to resemble deserted avenues lined by shutters, especially in the nation’s increasingly depopulated and geriatric regional cities.
Dubbed “shutter-dōri,” or “shutter streets,” these streets have become a potent symbol of urban decay and the demographic and economic collapse Japan faces.
Of course, the real situation is not quite so simple. Japan’s regions have long been emptying, but far from disappearing much of the population, especially the younger generations, have been moving into the vast conurbations of Kanto and Kinki, where populations continue to increase.
Even so, in the streets of the capital rusty shutters and large, deserted roads are not an uncommon sight in the less central areas.
The small stores of the arcades are not just the victims of regional enervation – Japanese now find themselves increasingly preferring convenience stores and large scale high street chains to the uncompetitive vendors who once lined every station thoroughfare.
That Japan’s regions are fast becoming ghost towns is undeniable, however.
Poignant depictions of the decline of once vibrant shopping arcades are not hard to come by:
one thing that comes to mind… Jet set radio future, xbox game
The just look like the streets in my city on a Sunday…
Yeah, it sure looks depressing, but it doesn’t mean the people who once did business there just vanished. There are lots of newly build big department buildings, mostly near the train stations; it’s where most of the merchants have moved.
So, sure, the small stores aren’t outside anymore, but the merchants do exist. It’s like in Akihabara, where most of the small (and often boroi) restaurants near the station have had to make space for giant buildings like Yodobashi Akiba and the high buildings on the opposite side. Once you get inside, you can notice small restaurant en masse.
It’s not the same feeling eating there, but at least the chance to choose between really many kinds of food is still there.
Bummer. :l
They probably took it on early mornings. The old people are quite feisty, ya know.