High school girl in uniform that didn't fit the atmosphere was walking through Ameyoko

Both the Ameyoko entrance near Okachimachi Station and the Ameyoko entrance near Ueno Station have large gates with the name of the shopping district on them. However, if you look closely, you will notice that the gate near Okachimachi Station and the gate near Ueno Station have different names. The gate closer to Ueno Station says "Ameya-Yokocho," while the gate closer to Okachimachi Station says "Ameyoko". The difference is related to the origins of the shopping streets around the signs.

It is said that 80 years ago, shortly after World War II, the area around the signboard of Ameya-Yokocho was densely populated with candy shops (Ameya). In the days when sweets were not as common as they are now, candy shops selling sweets were a very popular business. It is said that at its peak, there were nearly 300 candy shops in business. In other words, Ameya Yokocho means "candy store alley." Nowadays, however, not a single candy shop remains, and it is difficult to imagine how prosperous it was.

On the other hand, the stores in the area closer to Okachimachi received a large amount of household goods from the US military after the Korean War. As a result, the area became known as America Yokocho. In other words, Ameyoko stands for America Yokocho. Later, Ameya-Yokocho and America-Yokocho, which had been next to each other, were unified to form Ameyoko.

I don't know if the story of how Ameyoko came to be is true or not, but it is a well-known fact that Ameyoko is still bustling with people. On this day, too, there were many people walking around Ameyoko. I had a strong image of Ameyoko as a place where housewives and middle-aged men come to buy groceries, but in reality, this is not the case. There were many young couples and families walking around. At this moment, a high school girl in school uniform was walking towards me from the other side.