“Kagai” is a district where Geisha work.

 

 

In here, traditional culture has been inherited such as dance, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, music, costume,  food, along with traditional streets made from such alleya.

 

 

In Kagai, specialized architectures are accumerated, such as Japanese style restaurants and tea houses, where  

 

Geisha performe there music and dance, and Okiya where Geisha belong.

 

 

Today, there are about 40 Kagai in Japan.

 

 

In Kagai of Furumachi , Japanese style restaurant was lined from the Edo era.

 

 

Even now , many Japanese style restaurant are operated.

 

 

Two of them are maximum size through out Japan.

 

 

Because there was no damage by WWⅡ, many historic buildings are left in addition to Japanese style restaurant.

 

 

Thus, Furumachi Kagai is one of the best historic Kagai in Japan.

 

 

In recent years, design improvement of archtectures and stone pavement has been promoted.

 

We investigated remaining condition and design characteristic of historic buildings of Kagai in Japan.

 

 

And, we do events and draw maps.

 

Shimomachi area in Niigata is located in the Shinano River estuary.

 

 

It is a historic area that was developed from Edo period until the beginig of the Showa period.

 

 

Because there was no serious damage by WWⅡ, many Machiya(traditional machant house), Nagaya(raw house) and 

 

alleys are left in Shimomachi area. So, there is a downtown atomosphere

 

 

We have been researching on issues of Shimomachi such as history of town, remaining condition and characteristics of buildings faced and distribution of alleys.

There are a lot of Machiya ( = Merchant house before 1945 ) which remain a local characteristic in the area.

 

 

However, detail had not been understood.

 

And so, we grasp the number of remaining historic buildings and understand design character of these buildings.

 

From these results, we prepare a basic data for expected district designation and establishment of a design guideline.

 

 

So far, we have researched over 1,000 towns and villeges along the traditional highway in Niigata Prefecture.

 

It is scheduled to make an overall analysis of all Niigata Prefecture in the future.

Murakami is located in northern part of Niigata Prefecture. 

 

 

The central area of the city was established as a castle town in the early 17th century.

 

Four elements of the castle town are preserved.

 

 

They are the castle, Samurai district, Merchant district and Temple district.

 

 

The central area of the city has been declining. However, in recent years, it is showing signs of revitalization by preservation of Machiya.

 

We are conducting survey, and supporting enactment of official plan.

Sado is the biggest island in Japan.

 

There are some mines of gold and silver in Sado.

 

In this area, mining culture continued for more than 400 years. 

 

Sado is the area where mines sites and historical buildings are left. 

 

Sado is aiming to register these mine sites and historic districts as the World Heritage. 

 

Aikawa and Sasagawa are designated as national important cultural landscape. 

 

Shukunegi is designated as national important preservation district of historic buildings.

 

There are three significant historic districts in Sado.

 

They are Ogi, Akadomari, and Minato.

 

We investigated and reported many of historic buildings in Sado City. 

 

Also, we produced some maps based on these surveys.

Nishi-Ohata used to be a neighborhood mainly consisted of farming fields in the Edo era.

 

The neighborhood was developed as housing area for rich people since the Meiji era.

 

There are many Western-style buildings in this area, which is different from historic downtown.

 

The old Saito family villa shows prosperity of the port town Niigata in Taisho era.

 

There was a demolition possibility of this villa. But it was purchased and preserved by the city according to the citizens’ movement.

 

The building and the garden are designated as National place of scenic beauty, and are open to the public.  URL：http://saitouke.jp/

 

Furthermore, the old Niigata Prefecture lieutenant governor official residence, built in 1921, was rehabilitated as a restaurant, leaving the scene of those days. 

 

We produced a map to tell the history and charm of the district.