Amerikamura

Encyclopedia : A : AM : AME : Amerikamura

Amerikamura (アメリカ村, American Village) is a small entertainment/retail area near Shinsaibashi (Minami) in Osaka, Osaka prefecture, Japan.

Amerikamura is identifiable by the small scale Statue of Liberty which peers down on the streets. It is a well-known haunt of resident expatriate Westerners (known as "gaijin" in Japanese), and centres on Triangle Park, a concreted rest area surrounded by retail outlets of Western fashions, bars and nightclubs, some of which are run by Westerners.

However, its repute as a hangout for Western foreigners is a matter of degree. Much as 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 good place for observing some of the more "fashion intense" manifestations of Japanese youth culture.

It is usually referred to by the diminutive "Ame-mura."

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.