One Preservation District, Selected by the State in 2006
Kiso Hirasawa, Shiojiri City (塩尻市木曾平沢) is the townscape of a lacquerware centre spread over parts of Kiso-Hirasawa in Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture, and was selected by the state on 5 July 2006. Its category is that of important preservation districts for groups of traditional buildings.
The city records a district about 200 metres east to west and about 850 metres north to south, some 12.5 hectares, taking in the settlement on the river flats of the right bank and the shrine on the hill to its north.
The name and the place-name in the address are written with two different forms of the same character.
A Street for Selling and a Street for Making, Side by Side
Two streets each show a face of their own.
The city records that the old highway, now called the main street, runs north to south through the middle of the district, with a second street running parallel to the west.
Along the main street, it continues, many houses have lacquerware shops on both sides, while along the western street, cut in modern times, stand houses without shops.
The main street gives the look of a lacquerware town; the western street shows a row of craftsmen's dwellings, a street of makers. Together, the city says, they make a townscape fit to be called a lacquer town, doing everything from making to selling.
At the Ogiwara residence, home and weaving workshop lay in different districts. At Obaraya Harada Shoten, the shop was below and the dwelling above.
Here, within one district, a selling street and a making street run side by side. The roles divide not house by house but street by street.
Lacquering Stores Deep in Narrow Lots
Behind what the street sees, the workplace goes on.
The city records deep, narrow strip lots going back to the late early-modern period on both sides of each street.
The national association of preservation districts records that within these strip lots, lacquering stores and outbuildings line up behind the main houses.
A lacquering store is a building for the work of applying lacquer. House at the street, store behind: each lot is used front and back for different ends.
At the Ogiwara residence, the storehouse door opens straight onto a reception room: a store meeting the dwelling.
Here the stores stand in line behind the houses as places of work. The Agency records that the district keeps its late early-modern lot divisions well, and that its traditional town houses and lacquering stores together convey the historic character of a lacquer-making town. Lacquerware is still made here, it adds, through the craftsmen living together and their traditional methods.
Selected 28 Years After Its Neighbour
Within the same city, another district was chosen first.
The city records that in 1978 the neighbouring post town of Narai was selected as a preservation district, as a place that kept the look of an early-modern post town.
Residents, it continues, were moved by the townscape movement in Narai to turn to their own district. The city set up a section for townscape preservation in 2002, and a promotion committee was formed the following year.
From Narai's selection to this one is 28 years.
The association describes the district as having grown as a village attached to the post town of Narai, along the old highway.
The village beside the post town was chosen after it. The city notes that it is the only lacquer town among such districts.
Visiting
The district lies over parts of several sub-districts of Kiso-Hirasawa, Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture.
The association records that the houses facing the streets mix buildings of many periods from the early modern to the modern, among them the projecting-beam style, in which beams are carried out to support deep eaves.
According to the city, 3,729 items of lacquer-making tools and products gathered by the local lacquerware museum form a separate important tangible folk cultural property, apart from this district.
This is a lived-in townscape, and the buildings are privately held. Visits to lacquering stores and workshops follow each shop's arrangements. Check before travelling.
In this system the state selects from among preservation districts that the municipality has first defined.
Q&A
- When was the district selected?
- On 5 July 2006, by the state, as an important preservation district for a group of traditional buildings.
- How do the two streets differ?
- The main street has many houses with lacquerware shops; the western street has craftsmen's dwellings without shops. One sells, one makes.
- What is a lacquering store?
- A building for the work of applying lacquer, standing behind the main house in a narrow strip lot.
- How is it related to Narai?
- Narai, next door, was selected in 1978, and its townscape movement moved residents here to act, the city records.
- How large is the district?
- About 200 metres east to west and 850 metres north to south, some 12.5 hectares, including the shrine on the hill to the north.
Basic Information
| Name | Kiso Hirasawa, Shiojiri City (塩尻市木曾平沢); the name and the address use two forms of one character |
|---|---|
| Location | Parts of several sub-districts of Kiso-Hirasawa, Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings; selected rather than designated or registered; type: lacquer town |
| Year Designated | 2006 (5 July), selected |
| Quantity | 1 preservation district |
| Dimensions | About 200 metres east to west and about 850 metres north to south, some 12.5 hectares, taking in the main street, a parallel street to the west, and the shrine on the hill to the north |
| Owner | The buildings within the district belong to their several owners |
| Public Access | A lived-in townscape; visits to interiors and lacquering stores follow each shop's arrangements |
References
- Shiojiri City: the Kiso-Hirasawa preservation district
- https://www.city.shiojiri.lg.jp/soshiki/36/3737.html
- National Association of Preservation Districts: Kiso-Hirasawa
- https://www.denken.gr.jp/archive/shiojiri-kisohirasawa/index.html
- Shiojiri City: the lacquer town
- https://www.city.shiojiri.lg.jp/soshiki/29/23543.html
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kiso-Hirasawa
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/177622
Last verified: 2026.09.22