Yamachosuji

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

YamachosujiTakaokadozo-zukuri1900 firepreservation district

Photo: 掬茶 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Yamachosuji has outlasted the version of Toyama it was originally built for, and it shows.

In June 1900 a fire destroyed six-tenths of Takaoka. The merchants of Yamachosuji, the wealthy stretch of the old Hokuriku highway running through the centre of town, rebuilt under a building ordinance passed the previous year that required fire-resistant construction — and what went up was dozo-zukuri: thick lime-plastered walls, heavy blackened eaves, iron shutters and stone-framed openings, an entire commercial street built as a row of fireproof strongboxes.

It has survived essentially intact and was designated an Important Preservation District in 2000, covering about 5.5 hectares. Several of the buildings are open — a former bank, a merchant house — and the rest are still shops and homes. The scale is the thing: these are not cottages but three-storey commercial premises built by people with serious money, in a style you normally see one building at a time. Kanayamachi, the foundry district, is ten minutes away on foot.

Visiting essentials

How long to allow

45–60 minutes | 2 hours with Kanayamachi

Best season

Year-round | 1 May for the Mikurumayama float festival

Hours

Street open at all times | Individual buildings keep their own hours

Closed: Open year-round

Admission

Free to walk | Individual buildings charged separately

Access route

Getting there in detail

Around Komadashi-machi and Kibune-machi, Takaoka. About a short walk from Takaoka Station, or by car from Takaoka IC. Free to walk the street; individual buildings that are open to the public charge separately.

Historical notes & tips

**This is post-fire architecture, and knowing that changes it.** Everything you are looking at went up after June 1900 under a fire-prevention ordinance. The thickness of the walls, the iron shutters and the stone lintels are all answers to the same problem. **Go inside at least one.** Several buildings along the street are open, including a former bank and merchant houses. Seeing the wall section and the shutter mechanism from inside is what makes the construction legible. **Walk it with Kanayamachi.** Ten minutes apart, designated twelve years apart, and visually unrelated — one is fine lattice and stone paving, the other is heavy plaster and iron. The pair is the argument for stopping in Takaoka. **The float festival is 1 May.** The Mikurumayama floats, which are National Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties, are pulled along this street. The rest of the year they are in the museum at the end of it. **Ten minutes from the station.** No car needed. Takaoka is on the Ainokaze line and Shin-Takaoka is a Hokuriku Shinkansen stop, which makes this an easy stop between Kanazawa and Toyama.

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