Nakazakicho, situated on the north side of Hankyu Umeda, is a shopping district with fashionable cafes, general stores, and second-hand clothing shops. During the Second World War, Osaka was hit several times by air raids, reducing much of the area to burnt fields. However, Nakazakicho escaped this fate and due its architectural construction, many old homes remained even after over 100 years. This was a result of nagaya houses, which are essentially single buildings partitioned by shared walls, making them difficult to rebuild. This led to an increase in older residents and vacant housing. As the area was becoming more and more of a ghost town, a cafe by the name of Salon de AManTo came along and a project was started to renovate these older buildings. A "vacant house revitalization performance" took place with 1,100 volunteers, which attracted the attention of many people and brought trendy cafes into the area, successfully transforming the location. In recent years, it has also become more common to see foreign tourists here from East Asia, such as Koreans and Taiwanese.
Address
Nakazaki, Kita-ku, Osaka, 530-0016
Access
Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line [Nakazakicho Station]