Shinsaibashi 5.6

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 parallel and east of Mido-suji street. Associated with Shinsaibashi, and west of Mido-suji street, is Amerika-mura, an American-themed shopping area and center of Osaka's youth culture. Major stores and boutiques concentrates are found around the area. Shinsaibashi is easily accessed via the subway.HistoryLike many place names in Osaka, the Shinsaibashi shopping district gets its name from one of the many "Machi-bashi" that were built and managed by the local merchants. Shinsaibashi was a much loved, landmark bridge that spanned the Nagahori-gawa canal.In 1622, at the time of the excavation of the Nagahori-gawa canal, the original 35 metre long and 4 metre wide wooden bridge was built by Shinsai Okada, one of the four merchants who dug the Nagahori-gawa canal. The bridge was named after its builder.As the popularity of Shinmachi to the north and the Dōtonbori theatre district to the south increased, so did the popularity of the shops lining the streets connected by the bridge, establishing the area as Osaka's main shopping district.The well-used wooden bridge required considerable maintenance and repairs by the townspeople who owned it. In 1873 the wooden bridge was replaced with a 37.1 metre long and 5.2 metre wide arched truss iron bridge that was imported from Germany. The arched bridge was considered to be quite unusual and became a popular topic of conversation amongst Osakans.