Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street

In short

Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street is a single continuous shopping street stretching about 1.2 kilometers east from the statue of Hayashi Fumiko in front of JR Onomichi Station. It consists of five shopping streets lined with distinctive shops, ranging from long-established stores in business for over 100 years to new ones. During the Edo period, it lay on the route of the Saigoku Kaido, and the Onomichi Town Magistrate's Office of the Hiroshima Domain and a honjin (official inn) were also on this street.

• ​Distinct Characters of the Five Shopping Streets​​: A statue of Hayashi Fumiko stands on Fumiko-dori Street at the western end, and Naka Shopping Street offers quintessential Onomichi sights such as the former site of the magistrate's office and stone-paved alleys
• ​The "Magari," a Trace of the Old Highway​​: The street in front of the Onomichi Post Office bends in a key-like crank shape, which locals have long called the magari (bend)
• ​The Otabisho of the Betcha Festival​​: Honmachi Center Street has the otabisho of Ikkyu-jinja Shrine, where the votive masks of Soba, Beta, and Shoki, the three demon deities, are displayed, allowing visitors to experience the festival year-round

History and Highlights

​Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street​ is a single continuous shopping street stretching about 1.2 kilometers eastward from the statue of Hayashi Fumiko in front of JR Onomichi Station. It consists of five shopping arcade streets—Fumiko-dori Street, Naka Shopping Street, Honmachi Center Street, E-no-machi-dori Street, and Onomichi-dori Street—lined with a distinctive variety of shops ranging from long-established stores in business for over 100 years to newly opened venues.

During the Edo period, this street formed part of the Saigoku Kaido, which served as the Sanyo road of early modern Japan. Many merchant houses lined the street just as they do today, and the area was home to the Onomichi Town Magistrate's Office established by the Hiroshima Domain, as well as a honjin (official inn) that accommodated visiting dignitaries such as feudal lords, court nobles, and shogunate officials. Today, it remains the city's central main thoroughfare, widely cherished by locals and tourists alike.

Sights and Experiences

• ​Distinct Characters of the Five Shopping Streets​​: At the western end on Fumiko-dori Street stands a statue of author Hayashi Fumiko, who had strong ties to Onomichi, along with Tsuchido Elementary School, which she attended, and Uzushio-koji Lane, named after one of her literary works. Although Naka Shopping Street is the shortest of the five, it offers plenty of quintessential Onomichi sights, such as the former site of the magistrate's office and stone-paved alleys. E-no-machi-dori Street, located in the middle, is the longest in the arcade, with an overall length of about 385 meters.
• ​Traces of the Old Highway and Alleys​​: Running toward the coast from below the traditional approach to Senko-ji Temple is Kojindo-shoji Lane. Around the middle of the Hondori arcade, the street in front of the Onomichi Post Office bends in a key-like crank shape, which locals have long called the magari (bend). Such bends along old highways seem to have originally been intended to impede enemy intrusion.
• ​The Otabisho of the Betcha Festival​​: In the Honmachi Center Street area stands the otabisho (temporary resting place of the kami) of Kibitsuhiko-jinja Shrine—commonly known as Ikkyu-jinja Shrine—located just up the hillside. The votive masks of Soba, Beta, and Shoki, the three demon deities that appear in the Betcha Festival, are displayed here, allowing visitors to experience this festival year-round. The festival is held annually from November 1 to 3, during which the three demon deities and lion heads chase after children to pray for good health and ward off misfortune.

Visiting Tips

The street is about a 3-minute walk from Onomichi Station on the JR Sanyo Main Line. It bustles with numerous monthly events, such as the Saturday Night Market and Tanabata Star Festival displays. At the eastern end lies Soraiken, the tea garden estate of the wealthy Hashimoto merchant family, which retains a tea house named Myoki-an, regarded as a replica of the renowned Myoki-an Taian tea house associated with Sen no Rikyu. From around Naka Shopping Street, ONOMICHI U2 is about 870 meters to the southwest, Ushitora-jinja Shrine is about 550 meters to the north-northeast, and Saikoku-ji Temple is about 1.1 kilometers away.