Traditional Storehouse Zone
Kawagoe has been called the “Small Edo” in relation to “Great Edo” (Tokyo).
There is an area in this town where traditional kura (“storehouse”) style buildings line along the street.
Called the “townscape of kura-style buildings,” over thirty kura-style merchant’s houses, each with unique characteristics, line along the street from Nakamachi to Fuda-no-Tsuji.
The traditional, stately and gorgeous kura style, with black plaster walls, large onigawara tiles, and high roofs, transmits to the present the atmosphere of the castle town of Edo.
This zone has been nationally designated in December, 1999 as one of Japan’s Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings and has been selected in January, 2007 as one of the Top 100 Historical Sites of Beautiful Japan.
