West Kochi · NakatosaNo.883★★Open in map →
Kure Taishomachi Market
Kure is a bonito port on Kochi's western coast, and its market is a single covered lane a few minutes from the station. Fishmongers, greengrocers and a few small kitchens trade side by side, mainly for the town itself.
- FromKochi Station
- ~55 minLimited express, every one stops
- Get off atTosa-Kure Station (JR Dosan Line)
- On foot
- Kure Taishomachi Market
The sweet spot
This is not an undiscovered place; every tourist site in Kochi lists it. What it is not is a food hall built for visitors. The shops are the town's own, opening hours differ from counter to counter, and the arcade keeps the rhythm of the boats rather than of the trains.
Where it is
18 more notes in Kochi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Tosa-Kure Stationisland-platform stop on the JR Dosan Line where every limited express calls
- The arcade entrancepainted fish banners and a hand-drawn town map marking the covered lane
- The fish counterssteel tables of skipjack and whatever else the day's boats landed, sold by the piece
- Kure fishing townthe low streets between the market and the water, still houses rather than shops
- Kure fishing harbourberths of the pole-and-line fleet, a short walk on from the far end of the lane
How to actually get there
- Kochi Station → Tosa-Kure Station (JR Dosan Line, Ashizuri or Shimanto limited express).
- Tosa-Kure Station → Kure Taishomachi Market (walk about five minutes toward the harbour).
- Walk the arcade end to end once, then buy at the counter you liked.
- Carry on to the fishing harbour, or head back for the next limited express.
- Limited express from Kochi Station
- Kochi Station →(JR Dosan Line, Ashizuri or Shimanto limited express)→ Tosa-Kure Station, about 55 minutes. Every limited express on the line calls here. Local trains also serve the station, but far less often.
- Return from Tosa-Kure Station
- The same limited expresses run back toward Kochi. Departures are spaced through the day rather than frequent, so fix a return train before you settle in at a counter.
About the place
Taishomachi is one roofed lane, running off the shopping street toward the water. The stalls under it are open-fronted: steel counters for fish, crates of fruit and vegetables, a few small kitchens where what you have just bought can be prepared. Kure is a pole-and-line bonito port, and the boats tie up a short walk beyond the far end. The lane exists because that catch needed somewhere to be sold, and the sellers still live in the streets around it. Outside trading hours it is shuttered and dim, which is the clearest sign of what it is for.
How to enjoy it
Come in the late morning rather than the late afternoon; counters open in stages and start closing once the day's fish has gone. Buy at one stall and eat at another — several of the shops will prepare what you have just chosen. Weekend trading starts earlier than on weekdays.
Background & history
A market has stood here since the Meiji era, when the wives of Kure's fishermen began bringing the day's catch to the same spot to sell. Fire destroyed much of the district in the Taisho era that followed. A relief grant from the Taisho emperor paid for the rebuilding, and the street — until then named for its Jizo hall — was renamed Taishomachi in acknowledgement. It has traded under one arcade roof ever since.
Before you go
- Cash
- The lane is free to walk into; you pay stall by stall. In a small rural market cash is the safe assumption rather than card or IC.
- Before you go
- Confirmed at the time of writing with the prefecture's official travel site: shops trade roughly 9:00 to 16:00 on weekends and holidays, and from 10:00 on weekdays. Hours differ shop by shop, and the local tourism association notes that Wednesday is the common closing day.
- Another way
- From the west, the same limited expresses reach Tosa-Kure from Kubokawa and Nakamura. By car, the Nakatosa interchange on the Kochi Expressway is a few minutes away and the market has parking.
- After you get off
- From Tosa-Kure Station, walk about five minutes toward the harbour; the arcade opens off the shopping street, marked by painted fish banners.