Hozen-ji Temple

Hozenji Yokocho keeps a quiet Naniwa mood inside the Minami entertainment district. The words 'Hozenji Yokocho' on the gates at either end were written by Fujiyama Kanbi in the west and by Katsura Harudanji III in the east. Two lanes run east to west, 80 metres long and 3 metres wide, lined with old kappo restaurants, bars, okonomiyaki and kushikatsu shops, and footsteps sound on the flagstones. The ground was once the precinct of Hozenji, a Jodo sect temple, and the stalls serving worshippers grew into the alley over time. Temple and alley both burned in the air raids of the Pacific War, and after it the alley came back as a place to go out. It is known as the setting of Oda Sakunosuke's novel Meoto Zenzai and is sung about in the song Tsuki no Hozenji Yokocho. The Fudoson statue that came through the fires is covered all over in thick green moss from the water people pour on it with their wishes. Hozenji Yokocho survived two fires at the old Nakaza theatre and revived again, and it remains a lively street that holds on to its old feel and its Naniwa warmth.

Translated from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).