Along the alleyway from Rijō Avenue where the Hiroshima Railway runs, you’ll find a spot where you can get a glance at the open sky among towering skyscrapers. Fukuromachi Park is located on the corner of a hippy area where boutiques and brands populate the area. Kids, salarymen on their smoking breaks, shop staff on coffee breaks–each person spends their time there in their own way.

A street full of shops is fun to walk through, especially when stores with unique features that are only prominent in that local region are open and welcoming. The town of Urabukuro is actively trying to expand the area by asking the stores to move their property to the back of the street so people can have a broader road to walk on. Mr. Oga, a member of the Urabukuro Shopping Street Association, shared the background behind this idea with us. He was someone who frequently visited the area when he was a student. He would often meet up with friends either at the park or at the Pencil Building to hang out and shop. Namiki Avenue also lies nearby, where several foreign brands opened their stores back in the 80s. Mr. Oga’s generation, however, idolized the town of Urabukuro one street away, hidden from the main Namiki Avenue. As if trying to counteract Namiki Avenue, where all the cool brands had their stores, Urabukuro welcomed younger people to open their dream stores when the rent was still relatively low.

Because of their conscious effort to not end up like mainstream high-end brands, the thrift stores and unique clothing shops that popped up during that period have changed Urabukuro into a fashion lane. In addition to numerous thrift shops, the town also holds a particular event called “Trunk Market”. Tents and pop-up shops line up in Fukuromachi Park, providing a unique opportunity for people to buy clothing pieces, kitchen goods, and other knickknacks. Trunk Market even served as a motive for numerous brands to open a Hiroshima branch. When new culture permeates Hiroshima, Urabukuro serves as the gatekeeper, and this hasn’t changed in years.

While we spoke with Mr. Oga, he remembered an acquaintance who was more knowledgeable about the town. He took us to a hat store called “Shappo”.

We met Ms. Morishima, who started “Goods Company” 30 years ago to sell American thrift goods. She and her brother shared the town’s and the store’s history with us. “Back in the day, my brother, who loved the American Village in Osaka, wanted to create something similar in this neighborhood.” The store now sells various imported goods from the States. Ever since the store opened, some products even led to opening a separate dedicated store. It must have been a special place for the young people from that period, where they could go and get authentic imported sneakers, thrift clothing, or skateboards. Among all of that, the bond between the young local residents and Ms. Morishima deepened through a skateboard shop. Ms. Morishima notes, “We didn’t have any skateboard shops in Hiroshima back then. But for some reason, all the teen skaters in town were at a pretty high level. They would get their hands on videos from overseas, see all the tricks, say, ‘Awesome!’ and try them for themselves.” As Ms. Morishima got more involved with the local skaters, she started representing and supporting the boys in the skateboarding community. “I’d take them all in a big van to national competitions. Since we’re based here in Fukuromachi, we’d have our custom T-shirt that said ‘Bag Town’.” Many of the boys grew up to be professional skaters, but some opened their own stores or pursued something else. With the passing of Ms. Morishima’s brother, who was the store's previous owner, the store itself gradually shrunk.

But not everything is sad and gloomy. Former employees of Goods Company and regular customers have also opened their own stores in the Fukuromachi area. Some are thrift clothing stores, some are skateboarding shops, some are street-style apparel stores. “I encourage anyone to open up a store here, although the rent is getting a bit high these days…” Ms. Morishima noted with a hint of sadness. She seemed to reminisce about the old days.

Fukuromachi has so many stylish boutiques because of its counterculture and the people’s flexibility to accept and play with something that might be inherently alien. Trunk Market also embraces the notion of only selecting the unique products rarely found in mainstream retail stores. We recommend you to check out some stores there. You might find an unmatchable style and a special something that cannot be found anywhere else.