The “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival” was held on October 9!

We asked Nozomi Takeuchi to write this article for us.

The “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival” was held on October 9. Returning after three years, the venue was packed with people!

Besides the food stalls, there were all kinds of events, from a parade to a flea market, and it was the kind of crowd where you felt, “It’s been a long time since this many people gathered in the shopping street.” Here we share the scene at the “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival”!

What Is the “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival”?

Sazae-san Shopping Street is the street where five shopping streets are joined: the Nishijin Orange-dori Shopping Street, the Nishijin Chuo Shopping Street, the Nishijin Nakanishi Shopping Street, the Takatori Shopping Street, and the Fujisaki-dori Shopping Street. A festival held jointly by five shopping streets is rare, isn’t it?

The “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival” had been held since 2017, but because of COVID-19 it became difficult to hold, and it was canceled for the past few years. This was therefore the first time in three years! It was a festival everyone had been waiting for, and on the day so many people gathered that it was hard to move.

The Parade at the “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival”

On the day, a grand parade starting around 9:30 from Imagawa Bridge kicked off the festival with great energy. Five teams took part in the parade, and the procession stretched from the Nishijin Orange-dori Shopping Street to the Fujisaki-dori Shopping Street.

• Momiji Hachimangu Shrine portable shrine and drum procession
• Sazae-san, the Sakura-shinmachi Shopping Street, and other related people
• Seinan Gakuin University cheer squad, cheerleaders, and wind orchestra
• Seinan Gakuin University 73rd University Festival Executive Committee
• Dog manners improvement team Chirikira ☆ROOM

Among them, the one to watch is Sazae-san. They say there was once a rare parade in which Sazae-san traveled through the shopping street riding a rickshaw!

When the parade began, the street suddenly became lively and filled with many people.

The Scene at Each Shopping Street

Walking Sazae-san Shopping Street from end to end, I noticed that the atmosphere of the stalls and the kinds of goods sold differ quite a bit from one shopping street to another! From here, I introduce each shopping street with photos.

Nishijin Orange-dori Shopping Street

Many stalls were run by the restaurants in the shopping street, such as yakitori, Italian, and teppanyaki. Everyone was fired up, and crowds poured in. Walking down the street, good smells came from all directions! Besides the stalls, a flea market and a gachapon (capsule-toy lottery) were also held, and it was packed with people.

Nishijin Chuo Shopping Street

As on the Nishijin Orange-dori Shopping Street, there were many food stalls, and some sweets shops such as Taiwanese castella could be seen here and there. There were even shops selling vegetables and fruit! A mini festival fair was also held, with water-balloon fishing and super ball scooping.

Nishijin Nakanishi Shopping Street

There were several tables where people could eat and drink freely, and many people were enjoying the food they bought at the stalls. What was a little different from the other shopping streets was that several food trucks had set up. They sold apple pie and crepes, and the crepe shop in particular drew many people. There were also somewhat unusual corners such as free consultations with administrative scriveners and the JAF seat belt impact experience.

Takatori Shopping Street

Unlike the three shopping streets above, the Takatori Shopping Street had few restaurants and was mainly a garage sale. Many people put items up for sale at the garage sale, and many people gathered in front of Takatori Fine Garden, where Takeru Eye Clinic is located. The local mascot “Lucky Takarin” and the “Anime Town Cosplay Parade” by a group of cosplayers were also popular.

Fujisaki-dori Shopping Street

The Fujisaki-dori Shopping Street held a children’s “Fujisaki-dori Children’s Festival Fair.” There was shaved ice, ring toss, water-balloon fishing, candy fishing, and more, and it was lively with families. It was heartwarming to see so many children, from small to big, enjoying the fair.

The first “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival” in three years brought energy back to the shopping streets after a long time

The “Sazae-san Shopping Street Dream Festival,” held for the first time in three years during the COVID-19 era. On the day, every shopping street was filled with many people, and everyone seemed to have been waiting for the festival.

I hope the “Takatori-Fujisaki Saturday Night Market,” which has also been canceled because of COVID-19, can resume soon. Thank you to everyone who took part in the festival, and well done!

Text: Nozomi Takeuchi