Heiwa Dori Shopping Park was the first "permanent pedestrian street (year-round pedestrian paradise)" built in Japan. This boulevard, which runs straight north from JR Asahikawa Station, the starting point of traffic, attracted attention from all over Japan in 1972 as the first attempt of its kind in Japan. Formerly called Shidan Dori, the street was eventually renamed Heiwa Dori and then Heiwa Dori Shopping Park, but it remains the main street of Asahikawa and is well known to many citizens.

Both sides of the street are lined with a variety of stores, from department stores and specialty stores to beauty salons and ramen noodle shops, making it a shopping zone and gathering place for many citizens and tourists. In 2002, the entire street was renovated and transformed. The street has been transformed into a cultural and artistic experience with fountains, bronze sculptures such as Tadayoshi Sato's "Young Woman" and other bronze sculptures, and benches for a rest.