The banks of the Kurashiki River, once designated as territory under the direct control of the Edo shogunate, are now lined with shops making use of storehouses and traditional townhouses, and bustle with visitors.
The sight of tourists filling the historic streets conveys not only tradition and culture, but also a sense of economic prosperity.
However, in places where people in many different positions come together—including tourists, business operators, and people who have lived here for generations—differences in understanding and values can lead to problems.
The Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District was established to pass on Kurashiki’s historic scenery to future generations.
To protect the scenery along the Kurashiki River, which has been designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, the association created a guidebook, “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District”, bringing together information about local history and requests concerning commercial activities for people in the community from a range of backgrounds.
We spoke with Kimiko Oga, chair of the Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District, and Aguri Sawae, a Kurashiki City Community Revitalization Cooperator, about efforts to preserve the historic streetscape.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
The Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District and the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District”
What kind of organization is the Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District?
And what does the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District” say?
Here we introduce efforts to preserve the district’s streetscape.
What is the Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District?
The Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District is made up of eight neighborhood associations along the Kurashiki River, around the area south of Tsurugatayama, which has been designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings (hereafter, the Traditional Buildings Preservation District).
Its purpose is to protect and pass on the historic streetscape inherited from previous generations.
A Traditional Buildings Preservation District is an area designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to preserve environments where historic streetscapes remain across an entire town, such as castle towns, post towns, and temple towns.
In Kurashiki, streets lined with earthen storehouses, merchant houses, and traditional townhouses remain, evoking its past prosperity as a distribution hub during the Edo period, and are therefore subject to preservation.
All of the approximately 270 households living within the district, as well as all businesses operating there, are members of the association.
The association was established in 2006 to bring together the views of residents and business operators on the future of the district.
What is the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District”?
The guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District” is a booklet for residents and business operators in the district, bringing together information about its history and requests concerning commercial activities within it.
Aguri Sawae, a Kurashiki City Community Revitalization Cooperator, was responsible for the design.
The design uses pictograms and traditional colors, with features that help readers of all ages understand the content easily.
Some residents and business operators in the district were unaware of its rules, including those concerning advertisements and building renovations. This led to problems such as damage to the scenery and deterioration of residents’ living environment.
To deepen understanding of the district, the association created the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District,” which brings together information about the district’s history and the rules for conducting business within it.
It has been distributed to residents and business operators in the district.
Kimiko Oga’s background
Kimiko Oga serves as chair of the Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District.
She is also director of the Japanese Folk Toy Museum in the Bikan Historical Area.
The Japanese Folk Toy Museum, which opened in 1967, displays folk toys collected by its first director, Oga Masanori, and its current director, Kimiko Oga.
Before starting the Japanese Folk Toy Museum, the Ogas consulted Kichinosuke Tonomura, the first director of the Kurashiki Museum of Folkcraft, about how to make use of their home and storehouses.
Tonomura, who was then beginning efforts to protect the streetscape along the Kurashiki River, apparently suggested using the buildings as a folk toy museum.
Alongside running the Japanese Folk Toy Museum, Oga is also involved in activities to preserve the scenery.
Aguri Sawae’s background
Aguri Sawae, a Kurashiki City Community Revitalization Cooperator, was born and raised in Kurashiki.
Although Sawae now works closely with the Traditional Buildings Preservation District, she says she was not deeply involved with it as a student.
She visited the district only once each during elementary and high school.
She moved to Kyoto to attend university, where she studied architectural design.
With the goal of running a cafe and community space in a renovated vacant house, she began working as a Community Revitalization Cooperator at NPO Kurashiki Machiya Trust, which works to make use of vacant houses in Kurashiki City.
Drawing on what she had learned about design at university, she helped create the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District.”
Interview with Kimiko Oga and Aguri Sawae
We spoke with Kimiko Oga and Aguri Sawae, who helped create the guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District,” about their work in the district.
Here, the two women, who are active in the area, share their thoughts on the district’s current situation and challenges.
Why the Association for Preserving and Nurturing the Traditional Buildings Preservation District was formed
What led to the formation of the Association for Preserving and Nurturing the Traditional Buildings Preservation District?
Oga (surname only)
In 2006, the administration was leading projects for nighttime lighting in the Bikan Historical Area, burying utility poles and cables underground, and improving the appearance of the roads.
However, residents of the district at the time held widely differing opinions, making it difficult to reach a consensus.
For example, there were both supporters and opponents of the lighting proposed by Motoko Ishii, a lighting designer active around the world.
There were also discussions about what materials to use for the road surfaces as part of the road improvement project.
As we continued discussing the future of the district, we began to feel the need for a place where residents could bring their views together.
What was the final concept for the lighting?
Oga
Around the time plans were being made for nighttime lighting in the Bikan Historical Area, light-ups were becoming popular at tourist destinations across Japan.
The streets of Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, which retain the atmosphere of an Edo-period castle town, and the teahouse district of Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which likewise flourished as a place for socializing during the Edo period, were also investing in light-ups.
When Ishii began work on the Bikan Historical Area’s lighting, she focused on the fact that the area along the Kurashiki River in Kurashiki City was a community where residents had everything they needed for daily life.
About 60 years ago, in the 1960s, the area around what is now the Japanese Folk Toy Museum, where I lived, had shops essential to everyday life, such as a barber, fishmonger, and bicycle shop.
I saw for myself the legacy of its prosperity as a distribution hub during the Edo period.
After learning this, Ishii proposed lighting that would appear to spill out through the windows of the buildings, to express the everyday life of the town.
Other residents had their own opinions, but Ishii’s proposal, based on the history of the Bikan Historical Area, was ultimately adopted.
What goals did you set for your activities?
Oga
Through projects such as the nighttime lighting plan, we learned that residents of the district had a wide range of opinions.
It was an experience that made us realize that people living in the district needed to talk more with one another in order to think about the town’s future.
Everyone living in the district needs to consider the question, “How can we keep the town we live in beautiful?”
So, as a place for residents to discuss the future of the district, we established the association together with Yasunori Nakamura, representative of NPO Kurashiki Machiya Trust.
The guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District” and the district
What was the purpose of creating the guidebook?
Sawae
Even among Kurashiki residents, some people don’t know about the Traditional Buildings Preservation District.
I wanted the guidebook to give people a chance to learn about the district’s history and realize that it is an area we need to cherish.
Also, some people doing business in the district are not familiar with the rules for operating there.
We thought the guidebook would help people understand the rules concerning signs and building renovations.
Oga
Our activities are undertaken by everyone who lives in the district.
We are by no means an organization that enforces regulations.
Rather than imposing rules, through the guidebook we encourage residents, tourists, and business operators alike to respect shared agreements so that everyone can enjoy their time here.
That is why the guidebook brings together the value of the district and requests for preserving the streetscape.
As a Community Revitalization Cooperator, were you able to apply what you studied as a student?
Sawae
I studied architectural design at university.
I had never worked on designing a booklet, but I had learned from a different perspective about using colors and layouts that catch people’s attention.
I’m also comfortable using applications for creating logos and illustrations, so I put those skills to use in making the guidebook.
I was able to apply the knowledge and skills I acquired as a student to my work as a Community Revitalization Cooperator.
Oga
Sawae came up with the guidebook’s design herself.
The board of the Association for Preserving and Nurturing Kurashiki’s Traditional Buildings Preservation District meets once a month, and Sawae reports on the guidebook’s progress at every meeting.
Even without any special instructions from me, Sawae worked through trial and error and came up with good ideas.
What aspects did you pay particular attention to when creating it?
Sawae
I edited it with the diversity of its readers in mind.
For people who are not interested in the Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings, we first need to spark their interest.
Publications with a lot of text are harder to get people to pick up, so we used pictograms to create a visually clear design.
On the other hand, it is difficult to convey the town’s history in simple terms, so information needs to be presented in writing to ensure accuracy.
In particular, if agreements related to business are conveyed ambiguously, that can lead to trouble, so we must communicate accurate information.
We edited it so that pages that spark readers’ interest coexist with pages that invite them to read in detail.
What the Kurashiki City Community Revitalization Cooperators experienced in the Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings
What did you experience through your involvement with the town as a Community Revitalization Cooperator?
Sawae
I became a Community Revitalization Cooperator with Kurashiki City, with the ultimate goal of opening my own cafe.
But when I actually tried to open a cafe in the Bikan Historical Area, I found that rents for commercial spaces were incredibly high, and that it was absolutely impossible for an individual to run a cafe.
I had also hoped to build relationships with the local community as a Community Revitalization Cooperator, but there was no community to begin with.
The people who have lived in the Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings for a long time are aging, and few are active. Businesses with no local ties rent commercial spaces and operate there.
I came to believe that young people like me have to build a community.
Do you think the guidebook will help build a community?
Sawae
The townscape, which retains traces of the Edo period, is rare even nationwide, and many people who value the Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings visit as tourists.
At the same time, because it is an ideal place to do business, large companies with no local ties are moving in, driving up commercial rents.
To protect the culture and townscape, we must not focus solely on economic activity.
It is impossible to keep the economy within Kurashiki and Okayama alone, so it would be difficult to exclude outside capital from the area now.
Even so, I believe that we must continue activities that communicate the importance of culture and history.
The guidebook is an effort to share culture and tradition, and it helps us communicate information to businesses that have come from outside the area.
Oga
It is true that outside companies are moving into the Preservation District, but I feel that, conversely, the community is also becoming more vocal.
The guidebook Sawaye worked on has surely helped communicate the value of the Preservation District.
I get the impression that more people around me are recognizing the value of the Preservation District and taking action.
I look forward to seeing the ideas and actions of the next generation, like Sawaye.
After Reading the Guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Preservation District”
It may be natural for money to flow wherever people gather.
Restaurants, apparel shops, and general stores have set up shop in former storehouses and traditional townhouses, where commercial activities by various companies are taking place.
And in today’s world, where the economy has expanded across a wide area, companies with no ties to Kurashiki are also entering the market.
This may be a factor that creates conflict with values rooted in the local community.
Listening to Oga and Sawaye, I felt that values such as culture and tradition are at risk of being swallowed up by indicators emphasized in modern society, such as monetary value and efficiency.
However, we must also recognize that active commercial activity is not opposed to culture and tradition, and that it has the benefit of bringing people and economic gains.
The guidebook “Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Preservation District” expresses the desire to achieve both the spiritual richness of passing on the historic landscape to future generations and conveying the preciousness of culture and tradition, and the economic richness of people, goods, and money flowing through active commercial activity.
After reading the guidebook, I felt that achieving both spiritual and economic richness is precisely the goal of the Preservation District.
Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Preservation District Information
| Name | Toward the Future of Kurashiki’s Preservation District |
|---|---|
| Location | Distributed to residents and businesses in the Preservation District |
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