For me, having moved to Kurashiki from the Kanto region in December 2023, what struck me most of all was how many people here are working to preserve the old-fashioned townscape and way of life.
I recall that my relatives' house also had a sword storehouse and a veranda, but I'm told they couldn't resolve the issues of who would inherit it and the cost of maintaining and managing it, so in the end they gave it up.
In my family's case, we faced those issues on our own, but I feel that in the Bicchu region, including Kurashiki, there are many people who, through the hands of the local community, are working to preserve and make use of the townscape and the way of life still ordinarily carried on there.
I heard that every autumn, over the course of one month, the Bicchu region holds a program of town-walking and hands-on events built around the themes of "clothing, food, housing, learning, and play," making use of the townscape, machiya houses, and storehouses—called "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu."
We interviewed a member of the organizing committee about the notable programs for 2024 and their recommended ways to enjoy the event.
Please note that the information given here is current as of when this article was published in October 2024. It may differ from the latest information.
What is "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu"?
The Bicchu region, including areas within the nationally designated "Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings," is an area where historic townscapes remain. But it's not only the townscape that remains. There are people who, making use of that townscape, carry on traditional ways of life, enjoyment, and play from the Edo through Showa periods as part of their everyday lives.
"Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" is the event that, in such places, offers town-walking and hands-on programs built around the themes of "clothing, food, housing, learning, and play." This year (2024) marks its 11th run. Reservations have been open since Sunday, September 15.
Some programs require reservations. Programs that have reached capacity are posted on the official website as they fill up.
Town-walking programs
The best way to get to know a townscape is to walk through it yourself.
In the 2024 "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu," 17 town-walking events will be held.
For details, please check the image below and the official website.
It's a chance to walk through town with a deeper perspective on what kind of life is carried on there.
Numbers 14 through 17 make up the special town-walking program "Walking the Bicchu Toto Road."
"Toto" is the word for "fish" in the Bicchu dialect. The "Bicchu Toto Road" is the route along which, in the Meiji era, fresh fish was carried over 12 hours in a six-stage relay from Nishihama (Kanaura) in Kasaoka to the Fukiya copper mine, which flourished at the time.
The "Bicchu Toto Road" was registered in "Project Future Heritage 2023," a citizen-led initiative under the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan that works to pass on to children's future the rich culture and nature at risk of being lost. In 2024, to commemorate this registration in Project Future Heritage 2023, a program has been set up to actually walk the "Bicchu Toto Road."
Hands-on experience events
"Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" also offers a wide range of content for experiencing that "way of life," and in 2024, 24 hands-on programs have been prepared.
Every one of them lets you use your five senses—doing traditional handwork, tasting local food—to experience the way of life that still remains in the Bicchu region.
For details, please check the image below and the official website.
Interview with Nakamura Yasunori of the Bicchu Townscape Network
We interviewed Nakamura Yasunori of the Bicchu Townscape Network secretariat about what "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" values and the recommended ways to enjoy it during the event period.
Please tell us about the background behind planning "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu."
Nakamura (titles omitted)
It started with the National Townscape Seminar Kurashiki Conference held in 2013.
The Bikan Historical Area is a nationally designated Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings—a town where buildings dating from the Edo period are preserved and put to use. But there are many other areas in the Bicchu region besides the Bikan Historical Area that still retain their historic townscapes, so everyone worked together to hold the Kurashiki Conference.
That's when we wanted to create a lasting reason for our towns to keep visiting one another, so we started this.
There was also another purpose. In order to pass on the way of life in machiya, we first wanted to learn about that way of life ourselves.
Most of us, including those of the baby boomer generation, were born after the war, so we've lived urbanized lives since childhood. Because of that, we don't know the "culture" of life in a machiya.
You can't pass on something you don't know. There are only a few people left now who can speak about life in a machiya before the war. So we felt that, at this opportunity, we ourselves needed to experience various aspects of that culture, which is how we came to run town-walking and hands-on programs under the project "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu."
This is a long-running event, now in its 11th year as of this year (2024). How do regular participants usually choose their programs?
Nakamura
Nearly 40% of participants are repeat visitors. Since "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" has so many programs, I think many people join a few different ones each year, bit by bit.
What's interesting is that many people choose several programs within the same field—those who love town-walking choose several town-walking programs, those who love food choose several food programs, and so on.
Everyone seems to pursue what they love in depth. The Bicchu region covers a wide area, so I hope people can enjoy various parts of it.
Until last year it was called "Bicchu no Machiya de Kurasu," but this year it's been renamed "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu." Could you tell us the reason for the change and this year's notable programs?
Nakamura
That's right.
For the ten years up through last year (2023), we ran this event with a focus on "machiya." But the more times we held it, the more we came to realize that life in a machiya is just one element making up a region—alongside things like the roads that pass through the town, or farming.
So, here, we wanted to once again shine a light on the life of the "region" of Bicchu where these machiya exist, and added "Living in Bicchu" to the name.
Hands-on program No. 8, "Touring old folk houses of the Uji Basin and hand-making mochi-mugi udon," takes place not at a machiya but at a farmhouse. There are ways of life in the Bicchu region besides that of the machiya, so I hope people will experience those too.
Also, this year we've newly prepared a program called "Walking the Toto Road."
Do you know what the "Toto Road" is?
It's the route along which fresh fish from the Seto Inland Sea was carried to Fukiya. There were no cars back then like there are now, so people carried the fish on foot, walking or running. This project, working to preserve a road that was indispensable to daily life for people of the Bicchu region, was registered in the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan's "Project Future Heritage 2023," so I'd like to take this opportunity to walk it myself.
In particular, town-walking program No. 16, "Yakage to Bisei," is a course we've prepared for the first time this year, so I'm looking forward to walking it myself.
Finally, could you give a message to our readers?
Nakamura
It may look special to us, but there are still people in the Bicchu region for whom the old-fashioned way of life is simply "normal." "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" offers programs where, in towns like these, you can hear about and experience the lives of people who love the towns where they were born and raised.
It was hot this summer, so I'm looking forward to the heat easing off by the time "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" is held, making it a season well suited to enjoying a walk around town. Why not tour the Bicchu region while taking in the autumn air?
From the Writer
Mr. Nakamura has devoted himself to the revitalization of machiya, and he always tells us, with his eyes lighting up, "Precisely because we've grown used to urbanized life, we want to learn more about old-fashioned ways of life, starting with the machiya."
That day too, he said, "Not just the Toto Road—I'd like to actually walk the roads used to carry iron and salt as well," and in seeing how his vision for "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu" keeps expanding, we caught a glimpse of the secret behind this event's long run.
Autumn for culture, autumn for outings, autumn for food... Why not spend an autumn outing at "Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu"?
Event information for Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu
| Name | Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu |
|---|---|
| Dates | Saturday, October 26 – Saturday, November 30, 2024 |
| Location | Bicchu region |
| Participation fee (tax included) | Pay the participation fee at same-day reception |
| Website | Living in Bicchu, Machiya de Kurasu |
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