Tweet

Pocket

Hondori is Miyoshi’s oldest shopping street, a center of commerce for hundreds of years, and it runs down the center of a little spur of land surrounded by Miyoshi’s three rivers: the Gonokawa, Basen, and Saijo. Walking along the stone-paved road today, visitors will find historic traditional Japanese buildings and retro shop signs hanging overhead, with busy doorways that give way to a variety of shops, restaurants, little museums, and trendy cafes.

The official Japanese slogan for Miyoshi’s old Hondori Shopping Street is “udatsu ni au machi” (卯建のにあう町), roughly “a place to find udatsu”, and visitors will certainly see some of the old-fashioned “udatsu” fire breaks on the roofs of the many old buildings found along the street. Edo-era (1603-1868) structures and quaint little alleys radiate out from the old road, and a number of spots along the way are even depicted in the historical Ino Mononoke Roku scroll, an Edo document detailing tales of the mononoke and yokai monsters who once haunted the city of Miyoshi. Lucky travelers might even run into a mononoke or two while strolling the cobbled alleys during one of the festivals when locals dress up as traditional monsters (or perhaps on a quiet night when the spirits come out to play).

Superstitious or not, Hondori Shopping Street is a must-see spot for any travelers spending time in Miyoshi thanks to the scenic skyline, fun shops and restaurants, and the wealth of popular sightseeing spots in the vicinity. Visit Hondori for popular gift shops, stylish cafes, retro sweets shops, doll museums, Buddhist temples, and plenty more.