Amerikamura (also America mura; アメリカ村, ''American Village'') is a sizable retail and entertainment area near

Shinsaibashi is a district in the Chūō-ku ward of Osaka, Japan and the city's main shopping area. At its center is , a covered shopping street, that is north of Dōtonbori and Sōemonchō, and parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shi ...

in the Chūō-ku district of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is usually referred to by locals as "Ame-mura". Amerikamura is an area stretching from Nagahori Street to Dotonbori, located in the west side of the Shinsaibashi station. Amerikamura is identifiable by a small-scale reproduction of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

that peers down on the streets. It is a well-known haunt of

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

s, and centres on Triangle Park, a concrete rest area surrounded by retail outlets of Western fashions, bars and nightclubs, some of which are run by Westerners. Its reputation as a hangout for foreigners is a matter of degree. Osaka's registered foreign population is a small fraction of the total population; the makeup of the crowds and retail space in Ame-mura is predominantly Japanese. Locally, Ame-mura is known for being a place for observing some of the more "

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

intense" manifestations of

Japanese pop culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be t ...

. In 1983, the "Peace on Earth" mural was painted in Amerikamura by artist Seitaro Kuroda.

References

External links

AMERICA MURA INFORMATION by AMERICAmura Association

Chūō-ku, Osaka Tourist attractions in Osaka Shopping districts and streets in Japan Geography of Osaka {{Osaka-geo-stub