Shin-Umeda Shokudogai

新梅田食道街Kita, Osaka

Food area

What makes this place special?

At a Glance

Shin-Umeda Shokudogai is an eating district in Kakuda-chō, Kita Ward, Osaka, in the Umeda area. It sits under the railway viaducts of the JR Kyoto Line and the Osaka Loop Line, between Hankyu Department Store and Hankyu Osaka-Umeda Station, east of JR Osaka Station.

It opened on 15 December 1950 as a relief project for retired Japanese National Railways staff. Because the space under the tracks is built as two floors, the ceilings are low and the passages narrow. The founder of the standing bar Pekin named it shokudōgai, written with the character for 'way' instead of the usual 'hall'. The district began with 18 shops, had 40 by 1956, and now holds about 100 eateries, from Japanese, Western and Chinese specialists to standing bars and fast food. The Shin-Umeda McDonald's ranked first in Japan for annual sales for three years from 1985.