履物問屋街

A wholesale footwear quarter at Nipponbashi-Higashi in Naniwa-ku. About a hundred shops along a street 400 m long sell sandals, zori and other footwear, and also bags, umbrellas and small goods; some of them sell to the public as well. The quarter has an old downtown feeling and is known affectionately as Haki-Haki Town, known across the country alongside Hanakawado in Asakusa. It began in the early Taisho years, when there were many geta craftsmen towards Kitanittocho; they started selling at the Odaishi market held on the 21st of each month, sold well enough, and from about then began making and selling in small shops, which grew into this. The number of shops rose quickly after the footwear wholesalers on Midosuji had to move out for the building of the road, and the quarter has been as it is since.

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