Tochigi City Kayuemonmachi Group of Traditional Buildings Preservation District

Overview

The Tochigi City Kayuemonmachi Group of Traditional Buildings Preservation District, located in the southern part of Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture, boasts a historic townscape that echoes the Edo period. Merchant and craftsman houses that thrived along the Nikko Reihisai Road stand in a row, conveying the lively atmosphere of that time. The preservation district encompasses present-day Kayuemonmachi and Izumicho, covering an area of approximately 9.6 hectares, roughly 320 meters east-west and 650 meters north-south, based on the old Nikko Reihisai Road. Within the district, many traditional buildings from the late Edo period to the early Showa period, including misegura (storehouses with shops) and dozo (earth storehouses), remain, creating a distinctive historical townscape together with the curving streets following the terrain, the Baba River, Onjima Island, and the greenery of the former Jin'ya (feudal lord's residence) site. Kayuemonmachi is said to have originated from Kayuemon Shin-mura, a new village established by Okada Kayuemon, who moved there from Ashikaga in the Tensho period (1573-1592). A Hatakeyama clan's Jin'ya was also located here. In Hira yanagi Shinchi, a riverbank was early established in conjunction with the Baba River's waterway transport, opened in the early Edo period. Merchant houses began to appear along the Nikko Reihisai Road in Kayuemon Shin-mura and Hira yanagi Shinchi from the mid-Edo period onward. Their trades were diverse, but many handled hemp, forming a basis that led Tochigi to become one of the leading commercial cities in northern Kanto during the late Edo period and Meiji period. With the implementation of the town and village system in 1889 (Meiji 22), it was incorporated into Tochigi-machi along with surrounding villages, becoming a key player in the region's commercial activities. The 1890 (Meiji 23) publication "Dai Nippon Hakuran-zu, Tochigi-ken no bu" (A Pictorial Atlas of Great Japan, Tochigi Prefecture section) featured four merchant houses, including the current Yu Den Miso, and one clinic, indicating that wealthy merchants comparable to the large stores around Tochigi Oodori were prominent by this time. Take a stroll through this historic townscape and experience the lifestyle and culture of that time. Feel the weight of history.