The area is centered along Sakaisuji Avenue, extending from the Ebisu-chō Interchange of the Hanshin Expressway in the south, to Nansan-dōri (just east of Nankai Namba Station) in the north.
Known colloquially as "Den-Den Town," Nipponbashi is known for its many shops which specialize in furniture, tools, and "otaku" interests such as electronics, anime, manga, and collectibles.
However, the shopping district bearing the name of the bridge does not actually reach as far north as its namesake, though its northern areas are part of the "Nipponbashi" municipal designation (unlike Akihabara Electric Town which sits entirely apart from the origin of its name).
With the opening of Yodobashi Camera in Umeda and Bic Camera in Namba, Den Den Town saw a major fall-off in furniture and home-appliance sales, but has more recently become known as a haven for anime and otaku-related shopping, analogous to Tokyo's famous electronics district Akihabara.
Nipponbashi is also host to numerous retailers of anime, manga, and other otaku-related goods such as Mandarake, Tora no Ana, and Osaka Gundams—a two-story all-Gundam outlet.