Kuromon Market

Background

Kuromon Market stands in Nipponbashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka. It is a covered arcade shopping street about 580 metres long, lined with about 150 shops selling fresh fish, produce and meat, and many of them are long-established businesses more than 100 years old. The market began in the late Edo period, when merchants brought fish to trade around Enmyo-ji Temple, and it became a formal market in the Taisho period. Having long supported the daily meals of Osaka, it is known as "Osaka's kitchen". Today the mornings belong to local shoppers, and from midday onwards the arcade fills with visitors who come to eat.

Local customs

• Stroll and eat seafood rice bowls made with fresh tuna and sea urchin, along with sushi, fried foods and cut fruit
• then walk on to nearby Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi to link eating and shopping into one route.

Travel tips

• Opening hours vary by shop, so check what each shop announces. Mornings are mostly local shoppers, and visitors increase from midday
• crowds peak around the year-end, so you are advised to avoid the busiest times. The arcade is roofed, so you can browse as usual on rainy days.
• The market is about a 5-minute walk from Namba Station on the Osaka Metro Midosuji Line and a short walk from Nipponbashi Station (Osaka Metro Sennichimae Line and Kintetsu)
• you can also walk over from the Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi areas. It is worth visiting all year
• pufferfish and all kinds of fresh fish are common in the shops, and the atmosphere is liveliest during year-end shopping for New Year food.