Takehara Townscape Conservation Area
Takehara has a 350-year history as a merchant town famous for salt production and sake brewing. The success of the town’s merchants can be seen in the historic district’s well-preserved townhouses, which date from the Edo period (1603–1867).
The 500-meter-long main street (Honmachi-dori) of the old town is lined with traditional wooden houses with light-gray plaster walls, latticework (koshi) facades, and elaborate fired clay roof tiles (kawarabuki). The combination of these features has earned Takehara the nickname “Little Kyoto of Aki” (Aki being the name of the province that later became Hiroshima Prefecture).
The houses reflect the wealth of the local merchants. Each one has its own latticework design, which can be classified into three distinct types: degoshi (protruding), which is often used on the ground floor; hiragoshi (flat), and nurigoshi (plastered). Toward the end of the Edo period, improvements in latticework techniques allowed not only for vertical designs but also horizontal bar designs.
In the historic district, numerous houses have been preserved with this style of roof and latticework facade. Two excellent examples are the former residence of the Yoshii family and the former residence of the Matsusaka family.
The Yoshii residence dates from 1691, making it the oldest house in Takehara. It was originally the home of a wealthy salt and sake merchant who became a town official. The residence was used as accommodation for the local lord when he visited the area.
The Matsusaka residence was constructed in the 1820s and completely remodeled in 1879. It has gently curved roof tiles in the kawarabuki style and elaborate latticework on the facade. The garden features a view of Fumeikaku (Kannon Hall) at Saihoji Temple in the tradition of borrowed scenery (shakkei). This principle of East Asian garden design incorporates background views into the composition of a garden.
Takehara became a salt-making center during the Edo period. The town’s wide, shallow bay was conducive to salt production due to the extremes of high and low tide of the Seto Inland Sea. Takehara’s merchants used a salt-making process adapted from a method used in the Ako domain (present-day Hyogo Prefecture). The channeled method irihama enden allowed them to efficiently produce salt. In 1650, a channel was dug to the town center to aid in the processing of salt and development of the salt trade.
Salt was transported in kitamaebune trading ships from the Seto Inland Sea. The ships initially headed west to pass between Honshu and Kyushu via the Kanmon Straits (separating Honshu and Kyushu) before heading north, calling at various port towns along the Japan Sea, including in Akita and Hokkaido prefectures in northern Japan. These ships returned to Takehara with rice, an important commodity during this period. In 2019, Takehara was designated a Japan heritage site as a port of call for kitamaebune ships.
Today, restaurants, cafes, and craft shops selling traditional local crafts are located in some of Takehara’s historic buildings. Residents arrange flowers outside their homes as a sign of hospitality and welcome visitors to the area. The historic district was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings by the Japanese government in 1982.