Photo/Illutration People come and go on the streets of the old townscape, seen from the observation deck of the Resona Koedo Terrace facility in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, on July 12. (Ikuro Aiba)

KAWAGOE, Saitama Prefecture—The Ichibangai shopping street here is lined with quaint warehouse-style merchant houses and bustling with rickshaws and couples in kimono.

The 430-meter-long street retains the ambience of a bygone time, boasting many structures built from the Edo Period (1603-1867) through the Showa Era (1926-1989).

One of these buildings is Resona Koedo Terrace, which was remodeled from a Western-style house built more than 100 years ago to serve as a bank branch.

In spring of this year, an observation deck was established on a second-floor terrace of the building. It is now open to the public, offering a panoramic view of the old townscape.

Although some trees partially block the view, the city’s iconic “Toki-no-kane” bell tower can be seen from the deck.

Visitors can also get up close to a striking “onigawara” ornamental tile on the roof of the Kobayashi residence next door.

Onigawara are modeled after “oni,” mythical ogres, and are designed to ward off evil spirits.

The ornament on the Kobayashi residence, which was built shortly after a great fire in 1893, is equipped with eyelash-like curvy metal bars that Nobuko Tatekawa, the owner of the residence, believes were installed to protect the house from fires.

Kawagoe is nicknamed “Little Edo” because the feudal Kawagoe Domain was an important river shipping hub connected to Edo, present-day Tokyo.

Because the city avoided bombing during World War II, many remnants of the former castle town are still standing today. Shop owners and other locals introduced rules in the 1980s to preserve and make use of the historic townscape, helping Kawagoe to become a popular tourist destination.

The city, with a population of approximately 350,000, attracted about 7.2 million tourists in 2023.

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