Ame Yocco Market, Market street beneath railway tracks in Ueno, Japan.
Ame Yocco Market is a covered shopping corridor in Ueno, Tokyo, running beneath railway tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi stations. Along the passage you find fishmongers, clothing stores, accessory stalls, and sellers of regional foods and traditional sweets.
The market grew out of black market trading in the ruins of Tokyo after World War II, when American goods circulated through informal stalls. It was registered as a formal shopping district in 1946 and has traded continuously since then.
The name Ame Yocco comes from a candy seller who once had a stall in the passage. Some vendors still practice tatakiuri, a selling style where they tap wooden boxes with a stick while filling bags, calling out to shoppers as they work.
You can enter the corridor from either end, at the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno Station or at JR Okachimachi Station. Weekday mornings are noticeably calmer, making it easier to browse without crowds.
Many of the small shops have been run by the same families since the postwar years, with ownership passing from one generation to the next. Handwritten price signs and homemade displays are common, giving parts of the corridor a feel that has barely changed in decades.
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