Jigokudani ("Hell Valley") is a hidden labyrinth of about two-dozen small bars and restaurants near Noda Station in Osaka's Fukushima Ward.
It began as one of the many black markets that sprang up throughout Japan after the end of World War II. Squatters moved into an empty lot formerly occupied by a police station and cobbled together shacks from scrap materials. These flimsy structures were replaced by sturdier two- and three-story buildings over the years, but still retain the postwar atmosphere of the Showa Era (1926-89).
There are four paths that lead into Jigokudani, none of them very noticeable from the street. I prefer to go in through a 70-centimeter-wide alley located inside Noda Shinbashi Street, a covered shopping arcade near Nodahanshin Station's exit No. 7. To find the alley, look for a store selling eyeglasses on the right side, about a block and a half in, with a blue sign that says Bigan Kougaku in English.