Translation guide
A smaller, less prominent road away from main thoroughfares, often in residential or older urban areas.
Referring to a small road, alley, or lane that is not a main road, typically in a residential or older part of a city.
The most direct equivalent, meaning a back street or side street, often with a slightly shady or quiet connotation.
彼は裏通りに住んでいる。
He lives on a back street.
裏通りには小さな店が並んでいる。
There are small shops lining the back street.
Refers to an alley or narrow lane, often between buildings. Common in urban settings.
そのレストランは路地の奥にある。
That restaurant is at the end of a back alley.
A side street or alley, often with a traditional or nostalgic feel, sometimes lined with small eateries.
飲み屋横丁を散策した。
We strolled through the bar-lined back streets.
A back road or path, often unpaved or less maintained, used as a shortcut.
裏道を通って駅まで行く。
I take the back streets to the station.
Describing a road that is not a main artery, often used to avoid traffic or as a quieter alternative.
A shortcut or back road used to avoid congestion. Often implies a local secret route.
この抜け道を使えば渋滞を避けられる。
If you use this back street, you can avoid the traffic jam.
Also used for less prominent roads, but more about location than function as a shortcut.
Referring to the lesser-known, sometimes secretive parts of a city or area.
Literally 'the streets of the back', used figuratively to mean the hidden or seedy side of a place.
彼は街の裏の通りをよく知っている。
He knows the back streets of the city well.
Refers to the underworld or criminal back streets, not a physical road.
彼は裏社会とのつながりがある。
He has connections to the back streets (underworld).
裏通り is a general back street, often with a slightly negative or quiet nuance. 路地 is a narrow alley, neutral and common in urban descriptions. 横丁 implies a side street with shops or eateries, often nostalgic.
Avoid directly translating 'back street' as 後ろの通り (ushiro no tōri), which sounds unnatural and is not used.
裏通りは交通量が少ない。
The back streets have less traffic.