Teramachi-dōri ("temple-town street") runs north from Shijō for about five kilometres along the line of what was once Kyoto's eastern boundary. Toyotomi Hideyoshi forcibly relocated more than eighty temples here in the late sixteenth century — the source of the street's name — and a handful are still tucked between the shops. The central covered arcade between Shijō and Oike is the busiest section, with three blocks of small specialist shops: secondhand bookstores, traditional stationery and brush shops, paper crafts, kimono accessories, antique dealers, and the occasional gallery.
The street is the spine of central-Kyoto shopping and one of the better introductions to the small surviving specialist trades of the city. Even if you buy nothing, the wander is worth a half hour. Combine with a walk through the parallel Shinkyōgoku arcade one block east (a glossier and more youth-oriented street) and a stop in Nishiki Market a block south.