Nawate-dōri

Frog street: shopping lane along the Metoba river

A narrow shopping street running along the south bank of the Metoba river between the castle and Nakamachi. The stalls and shops sell antiques, tea ware, sweets and souvenirs, and the street is studded with frog statues of every size and material. A Shintō shrine dedicated to frogs (Kaeru-daimyōjin) sits in the middle.

It is best visited in the morning when the smaller antique sellers are open. The river beside it is shallow and clean, and locals fish from the embankment.

things to do sight shopping
A story
Nawate-dōri's mascot is a frog (kaeru), partly because kaeru sounds like the Japanese verb 'to return' — auspicious for shopkeepers hoping customers will come back — and partly because the Metoba river used to be full of frogs whose night chorus stopped abruptly in the 1970s after a wave of pollution. A small shrine to the frogs sits halfway down the street.