Streets of warehouses (Kuradukuri-no-Matinami)

The townscape, known as Ichibangai, is lined with buildings built in the kurazukuri style, a style of architecture that adds to the charm of the town. The kura-zukuri is an elaborate fireproof construction to prevent similar fires, and was developed as the machiya style in the Edo period (1603-1867).

Known as “Little Edo,” it retains the atmosphere of a castle town, and is characterized by its warehouse-style streets, which are not seen in present-day Tokyo.

The appearance of the town, with its large devil’s tile roofs, black painted walls, and thick Kannon doors, makes one feel as if one has stepped back in time.

Each house is built differently, each with its own distinct personality and dignified style.

The oldest of the buildings is the Osawa Family Residence, built in 1792, which once operated a drapery and fat goods business.

It survived the Great Kawagoe Fire of 1893, which destroyed one-third of Kawagoe Town, and was one of the buildings that inspired Kawagoe merchants to build warehouse-style buildings. It is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), a row of houses with stores facing each other was laid out according to the plan of Kawagoe feudal lord Matsudaira Nobutsuna. However, since the town was damaged by every major fire, the shogunate encouraged the use of kawarabuki-style houses, and storehouses were popular as fire-resistant buildings. This led to the construction of kurazukuri merchant houses in Kawagoe, where commerce was thriving.

Most of today’s kurazukuri were built after the Great Kawagoe Fire, and more than 30 of them still remain.

After 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake and war damage caused the Tokyo kura-zukuri to disappear, but in Kawagoe they were recognized as an important historical heritage inheriting the landscape of the Edo period, and on December 1, 1999, they were selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.

In addition, the old Western-style building of the former Saitama Resona Bank Kawagoe Branch is a valuable building constructed in 1918.

Recently, newer buildings have been designed so as not to spoil the landscape, and the town is being developed in harmony with new and old buildings.

The symbol of the city is the “Bell of Time. The first bell was built in the Kan’ei era (1624-1644), but the current bell tower was rebuilt in 1893, the year after the Great Kawagoe Fire. This bell tower has three tiers and is approximately 16 meters high. Today, the bell rings four times a day at 6:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.

Another attractive spot in Kawagoe is “Kashiya Yokomachi. Here, dozens of candy shops are lined up, selling old-fashioned candy, candy, rice crackers, and other sweets. The length of the area is about 450 meters, and visitors can enjoy nostalgic tastes as they stroll along.

This area was designated as an “Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings” by the national government in December 1999, and was selected as one of the “100 Most Beautiful Historical Climates in Japan” in January 2007.

Kawagoe Ichibangai is a place where the streets are still lined with warehouses. Together with Kitakata City in Fukushima Prefecture and Kurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture, it is known as one of the “Three Great Storehouse Towns of Japan. This area is located near the ruins of the West Main Gate of Kawagoe Castle, and was once centered around “Fudanotsuji,” where a kobanjo, a place for high fares, used to be located, and the Kamigogamachi area where merchants used to live.

One-third of the town was destroyed by fire in the Great Kawagoe Fire of 1893, but because the Edo period kurazukuri architecture survived, subsequent merchant houses also imitated the kurazukuri style. More than 200 kura-zukuri townhouses once stood side by side, and black plaster was used as a major characteristic of Kawagoe’s mise-en-scene warehouses.

Today, Kawagoe Ichibangai is home to many museums, galleries, and unique cafes. The Yamazaki Museum of Art exhibits the collection of Hashimoto Masakuni, a warrior of the Kawagoe domain, and there is also the Hattori Folk Museum, the Ranzan Memorial Museum (exhibiting the works of Funatsu Ranzan), and the Matsushita Kikuo Mukashi E Museum.

The Osawa Family Residence, the oldest warehouse structure in the Kanto region, was built in 1792 by the wealthy merchant Hanemon Nishimura, and is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

At Toho Yama, there is a trolley that connects the store and the warehouse. It is also known as “Gandokudo,” which was the setting for NHK’s TV series “Tsubasa. Kawagoe Ichibangai is sometimes lit up at night.

Kawagoe City (Kawagoe-shi) prospered as the castle town of the Kawagoe Domain during the Edo period and was also known as “Little Edo. The city has many castle ruins, shrines, temples, historic sites, and historical buildings, and boasts the second largest number of cultural assets in the Kanto region after Kamakura City in Kanagawa Prefecture and Nikko City in Tochigi Prefecture.

In addition, the city is certified by the national government as a “historical city” under the Historical Town Development Act, and is the only place in Saitama Prefecture to be so certified. Because the city was spared from war and other disasters, its historical townscape has been preserved, making it a tourist city that attracts more than 7 million visitors annually. It has been introduced in many international travel guidebooks and recently attracts many foreign tourists.

The Kawagoe Domain, with its Kawagoe Castle, played an important role as the northern defense of the Edo Shogunate. The domain lords included Tadakatsu Sakai, Masamori Hotta, Nobutsuna Matsudaira, and Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, all of whom held important positions such as “Oro” (Grand Elder) and “Rouchuu” (Chief Minister), as well as members of the Echizen Matsudaira family.

As a result, Kawagoe has flourished since the Edo period as a castle town where commerce, industry, and learning flourished, and even today it is an educational city with many schools.

Successive lords of the Kawagoe domain devoted themselves to the development of Musashino. For example, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, known as “Chie Izu,” ordered Yasumatsu Kin’emon, a Kawagoe domain retainer, to open the Tamagawa Josui, Nokashimizu, and Shinkagishi Rivers, build the Kawashima Ooike Dike, and repair the Kawagoe Kaido Road. In addition, Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, who excelled in administrative skills, invited an official from the Kawagoe area, namely, Mr. Ogio [荻生步ポロ], and ordered Gontayu Sone, the chief retainer, to develop the Mitomi new rice field.

Kawagoe tea (Sayama tea) cultivation was promoted in the Sayama Hills of the Kawagoe domain, and sweet potatoes flourished in the cultivated land in Musashino. Sayama tea flourished thanks to the “Takabayashi tea-making machine” developed by Kenzo Takabayashi, and the sweet potato harvest increased significantly thanks to the “Akazawa-style sweet potato cultivation method” invented by Jinbei Akazawa. During the Kansei era, baked sweet potatoes became very popular in Edo, and the sweet potatoes brought to Edo by boat on the Shinkagishi River and the Iruma River were called “Kawagoe sweet potatoes” and became famous for their delicious taste and the phrase “Jusan-ri, better than chestnuts”. This established Kawagoe’s image as a “town of potatoes. The Kawagoe domain and the surrounding Chichibu area prospered as “Edo’s kitchen” and a supply center for goods. At the end of the Edo period, a silk industry was established in Maebashi, Ueno Province, which was part of the Kawagoe domain, and the Kawagoe merchants built up their wealth through the export of the silk.

Sweet potatoes have been a specialty since the Edo period and were raised in Kawagoe from an emergency food during famine to a delicious commodity crop. Today, the production of Kawagoe sweet potatoes is declining, but Kawagoe is known as a sweet potato processing base. Kawagoe sweet potatoes are easily cooked and suitable for processing such as sweet potato kinton (sweet potato dumplings), and a variety of delicious products are available, including sweet potato rice crackers, sweet potato yokan, sweet potato matsuba, sweet potato natto, sweet potato puff, bicolor sweet potato bavarois, and sweet potato pudding. Kawagoe’s “imo-sweets” are well known as one of “Saitama’s three famous sweets” along with Soka-sembei and Gokehoho. The yellow “imo soft ice cream” also originated in Kawagoe. In addition to sweet potato confections, Kawagoe is also famous for its various sweet potato dishes, which are so abundant that it is said “Kawagoe is the best place to eat sweet potatoes. Sweet potato udon and sweet potato okowa are standard fare, and original sweet potato dishes are served at places such as “Eppurontei” and “Genjiya.