Showa no Machi (昭和の町, しょうわのまち), also known as Showa Town, is an area in central Bungotakada City, Ōita Prefecture which consists of shopping streets reminiscent of 1950s and 1960s Japan.
It features various gift shops selling items which were popular during Japan's Shōwa era and is among Bungotakada's top sightseeing spots.[1]
In the 1960s, following the establishment of large stores in the area and depopulation, the once flourishing shopping streets of Bungotakada began to decline. Due to this decline, very few new buildings were constructed in Bungotakada's central shopping streets.[2]
As a result, more than 70% of the buildings in the current Showa no Machi area remained as they were in the 1950s when a revitalization project began in 2001. This project took advantage of the abundant Showa-era buildings to create a 1950s Japan themed series of shopping streets.
Showa no Machi Official Website (in Japanese)