Fukui

Shichiken Street in Ono Castle Town

Like Kyoto without the crowds

Takako Sakamoto Nov 12, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Front view of one of the shops on Shichiken Street in Ono Castle Town</p>

<p>Very Japanese-looking shop sign says, 'Rice, gas, heating oil, house appliance, equipment installation work and more'...this shop seems to be a jack-of-all-trades!</p>

<p>This beautiful Japanese stone marker says 'Shichiken Street'</p>

<p>People leisurely strolling on Shichiken Street</p>

<p>The sign says, 'Welcome to Shichiken Street Morning Market'</p>

<p>You can put your face in one of the round holes and take photos to show your friends that you visited the Shichiken Street!</p>

<p>Deserted Shichiken Street in the late afternoon. The morning market is open from 7 am to 11 am.</p>

<p>Beautiful wooden sign of a Japanese cake shop. What beautiful wood grain!</p>

<p>Front view of a sake shop. I wonder what this orange-brown round thing signifies?</p>

<p>Beautiful faceted glasses line the shelves</p>

<p>Japanese style Noren door curtain on a sake shop</p>

<p>Wow! Even the bank looks very Japanese here! Am I in Kyoto?</p>

<p>Black wooden sign of an apothecary shop</p>

<p>Long line of people...I wonder what they are lining up for? Perhaps for a delicious ice cream?</p>

<p>Round sign of a soy sauce and miso shop</p>

When I visited Ono Castle in Fukui, I parked my car in 'Ono Castle Town East Square' and walked down a street called 'Shichiken Street'. On this street, a famous morning market has been held for more than four hundred years. It's open from 7 am to 11 am EVERYDAY from Vernal Equinox Day (March 20 or 21) to the end of a year (December 31). Since I didn't know about it, I arrived there in the late afternoon and missed the activity. However, this street is filled with the atmosphere of old Japan, and just walking along it was such a pleasure. I almost felt like I was in Kyoto, not in Fukui. Kyoto minus crowds, that's Shichiken Street!

Ono Castle

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...