The history of Ameyoko begins in the desperate days immediately after WW2. Ueno Station had survived the bombings - virtually everything around it was rubble - and anyone who could make it here from the countryside with rice and other small supplies of good could sell them at exorbitant prices. Before long, there were hundreds of stalls in the black market selling various kinds of ame (confections), most of them made from sweet potatoes. These stalls gave the market its name: Ame-ya Yoko-cho means "Confectioners' Alley".