Bungo-Takada: Showa-no-machi & Platinum Street

The Showa-no-machi quarter in Bungo-Takada, a small city settled into the north-west shoulder of the Kunisaki Peninsula, seems to have been stopped in a retro time warp centred on the 1950s. A time when Japan was well on the way to recovery after the devastation of the Second World War, Showa-no-machi’s Ma & Pa and brick-a-brack shops not only has nostalgic appeal to older Japanese but has a warmth of feeling that any visitor can enjoy.

So authentic is Showa-no-Machi that it is used as a set for period films and TV dramas. For more of the same but in a lower key, stroll through the streets behind Showa-no-machi and cross the bridge over the Katsura River to Platinum Street.