Underground Shopping Mall
Underground Shopping Center
noun
An "underground" (地下) street isn't as underground streety as it sounds. A lot of the underground streets and areas in Japan tend to be underground shopping malls.
地下街, or underground shopping centers, are common in big cities in Japan, especially near train stations, where you'll find lots of shops, restaurants, and walkways below street level.
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you'll know how to read this as well.
雨だし、地下街行かない?
It's raining, wanna go to the underground mall?
ちょっくら地下街に行くところだよ。
I'm off to the underground shopping mall.
今日は地下街のカフェでゆっくりコーヒーを飲んだ。
Today, I relaxed with a coffee at a café in the underground shopping area.
僕は地下街の中で一度も天井を見上げないようにしているんだ。何故だか分かるかい?
I always make sure never to look up at the ceiling in the underground mall. Do you know why?