On the Shimbashi Station forecourt after the end of the Second World War, there was a market called the Black Market that bustled with people. At the Black Market, people began by spreading out their wares on the ground where there was space, so that they formed rows of fair stall-like shops along the road, but eventually, shared stores in tenement style buildings were built that could be called a market. The Shimbashi Black Market prided itself for its scale that was preeminent in all of Tokyo. Later, the era of the Black Market came to an end, yet elements of it still remain today.