Ryoma-dori Shotengai

Ryoma-dori Shotengai shopping street is to the north of the northern entrance of the Horai-bashi Bridge, located just east of Teradaya; famous for Sakamoto Ryoma. It's Kyomachiya-style exterior and retro atmosphere is popular among visitors. Locals and tourists love feeling the reminiscence of an old Kyoto cityscape that the Bakumatsu patriots frequented, such as the stone pavement, gaslight style streetlights, and the Kyomachiya-style buildings.
It is said that the origin of this shopping street was the red-light district of Chushojima when Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Fushimi castle in 1594, and the storeowners collaborated with the workers of the red-light district to collect assortments of kimonos and everyday goods, which gradually developed this area. Recently, in 1994, or the sixth year of the Heisei period, the former South Naya-cho Shopping District was renamed as the current "Ryoma-dori Shotengai" and established an association to promote the shopping street. In 1996, they created a development plan of the "Bakumatsu Corridor", which included renovation and restoration projects to convert the streets into stone pavement, unifying the designs of the store signs to resemble the style of the Edo period, and changing the store exteriors to a Kyomachiya-style. With the guidance of local experts, these efforts led to the beautiful scenery of this shopping street today.