Photo/Illutration The protected zone for historic buildings in the Sawara district of Katori, Chiba Prefecture, on Nov. 12 (Shota Tomonaga)

KATORI, Chiba Prefecture—Photographers stroll around the area, play with their smartphones and do other things to waste time until the magical moment arrives.

That is just before sunset, when the sunlight casts a red glow on buildings reminiscent of structures from the Edo Period (1603-1867) and the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

The dark-colored buildings appear on a stretch of land with swaying willow trees in Katori city’s Sawara district along the Onogawa river, a tributary of the mighty Tonegawa river.

They are the main attractions of this area in the northeastern part of Chiba Prefecture.

One notable remnant from what was a leading merchant town in the Edo Period is the former residence of Ino Tadataka (1745-1818), who created the first precise map of all Japan. The building is now a state-designated historic site.

A museum devoted to Ino gives history fans a rare look at a state treasure and other materials related to his national surveys.

Ino resided in what is currently Katori city for 30 years.

His former neighborhood features other significant structures. In 1996, the area became the first in the Kanto region to be recognized by the central government as a protected zone for historic buildings.

Katori city itself has designated the protection zone and the surrounding area as a specialized landscape formation district. The city also adopted an ordinance calling for cooperation in preserving the scenery there.

Shops and tourist facilities have taken advantage of the attention given to Ino’s previous home and structures recognized by Chiba Prefecture as cultural properties in both the building protection zone and the landscape formation district.

TRANSIT HUB

Sawara flourished as a transit center for boat transportation along the Tonegawa river from the mid-Edo Period. By the late 18th century, it had become a major town, boasting more than 5,000 residents across 1,300 households.

Its prosperity led to a saying that circulated among the people: “Want to see Edo (today’s Tokyo)? Better come to Sawara. Sawara Honmachi is better than Edo.”

The townscape is not the only thing that conveys the area’s former splendor.

The Sawara Grand Festival, featuring a parade of floats primarily along the Onogawa river in summer and autumn, has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It has also gained national important intangible folk cultural asset status.

Festival floats reach heights of up to 9 meters. Reflecting the town’s prosperity, large dolls decorating float tops became increasingly gorgeous toward the end of the Edo Period as if they were competing against each other.

Dating back 300 years, the Sawara Grand Festival draws up to 800,000 visitors annually.

Citizens groups, such as the Sawara Okamisan Kai (Sawara female business owner society), are now going all out to spread the appeal of Sawara.

The Sawara Okamisan Kai, whose 20 members include people with no businesses or individuals not originally from Sawara, started the “Sawara town-wide museum” program in 2005.

Storefronts and other locations throughout Sawara are adorned with treasured personal possessions and traditional items passed down over generations within local families and businesses.

As many as 43 of these “museums” show off a range of articles, including a money box bearing the era name of Ansei (1854-1860), to offer visitors insight into the history of people who have lived in Sawara.

Rie Katori, 63, head of the Sawara Okamisan Kai, retraced the town’s charm.

“Here are not only cultural assets but also people who continue living their lives,” she said. “Our community is, in this sense, a living town.”

(This article was written by Miku Ito and Shota Tomonaga.)

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