Arcades

Not the kind where you blow your mind (and all of your quarters), though. I'll cover stuff like that someday, I'm sure.

I have worked on various posts about the different arcades that we visit, but I never end up finishing. I'm just going to jump in a with a general post about arcades and try to get some specifics about the various ones we've been to before I run out of time.

Arcades seem to be Japan's 'mall' environment. They come in all different sizes, ages, decor and upkeep. It's amazing how much deviation there can be in an open air market environment, but I suppose few malls look alike. Most of the lengths are covered from facade to facade so that patrons can walk regardless of the weather. The cross streets usually aren't covered so you are exposed when you get there. They are closed to vehicle traffic usually from 10am to 7:30pm (bigger ones run later). There are also shops on many of the cross streets that one can wander to. I have found everything from department stores to small produce stands to yarn stores in the arcades. Most of the places are small shops that specialize in one thing - fish, honorariums (we were marvelling at the beautiful little cabinets and vases when I saw one with a lid and realized they were urns and memorial displays), produce, yarn, gifts (these are even sometimes sub-specialties, with china, kitchen gifts, clothes, etc in different shops). Some are void of people, some are packed regardless of the day. Pretty much every town has one, but some are easy to find and others are buried away from the main roads.

Omura's is one that's not easily visible from the main street. We stumbled across it after a forced left trying to explore the rest of the town. Theirs is probably the most run down that we've visited. They have many vacant stores and what is there isn't all that interesting. They do have a really nice yarn store that I'd love to blow a few thousand yen at.

I've talked about Isahaya's and Sasebo's at length so I'll spare you more details.

Nagasaki's arcade is enormous. It's called Hama-no-machi. There are side streets, large and small, multiple T's where the arcade goes off in all directions, it crosses main streets - it's madness. I still don't think we've explored most of it, but I've seen many of the same things multiple times and come at them from different directions. Turns out it's right next to the Holiday Inn we stayed at when we first got here. I've been told that there are yarn stores and fabric stores on the sides streets, but I haven't stumbled across them, yet. It will require much more exploration, I'm sure, before we get bored with it. It is nicely decorated and well kept. We've been there with no crowd and with so many people you can't walk.

Shimabara's was another small one without much in it. Like Omura, it's pretty sparse and many stores were shuttered. They did have a large department store and a HUGE Daiso (100 yen store), though. I don't think we visited much else there.