is the name of the town center of Iwamura in Ena,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

, and was designated as one of the Important Preservation Districts for

Groups of Traditional Buildings is a Japanese category of historic preservation introduced by a 1975 amendment of the law which mandates the protection of groups of traditional buildings which, together with their environment, form a beautiful scene. They can be post towns, castl ...

on April 17, 1998. It is the merchant district of a former castle town that prospered during the Edo period as a political, cultural and economic center of the

Tōnō is the southeastern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. The Tōnō region received its name as a combination of the ''kanji'' for "east" (東) and "Mino" (美濃). The borders of this region are not officially set, but it ge ...

region.

Overview

* The (illegitimately descended from the Matsudaira clan), who ruled

Iwamura Castle 270px, Edo period layout was located in the southeastern area of Mino Province in Japan. Its ruins can be found in the modern-day municipal subdivision of Iwamura, in Ena, Gifu Prefecture. Along with Takatori Castle in Nara and Bitchu-Matsuyama ...

in the first part of the Edo period, created the model for the townscape. It prospered as the castle town of the 30,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

Iwamura Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Mino Province in what is now the town of Iwamura, Gifu. It was centered around Iwamura Castle, and controlled parts of Mino and Suruga Provinces. Iwamura Domain ...

. Its area is around , and it is long and thin, being around in length from east to west. *From the to the east side was the merchant quarter area of the former castle town. In the present day, most of the Edo period buildings have been remodeled. However, many of them have original features preserved such as the shorter second floor, . The building plots are long and stretch from north to south. Common features are gables and gabled roofs,

latticework __NOTOC__ Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave. Latticework may be functional &nda ...

, and tiled roofs. Some have

Namako wall ''Namako'' wall or ''Namako-kabe'' (sometimes misspelled as ''Nameko'') is a Japanese wall design widely used for vernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of the Edo period. The ''namako'' wall is distinguished ...

s and others have , lit. 'warrior windows'. Houses from each period from the first part of the Edo period through to the present day line the street. *The area from the ''masugata'' to the west side was built starting from the last part of the Edo period up until the opening of the in 1906. These houses were built with the living room on the second floor and tall eaves.

Highlights

*Kimura Estate *Kachigawa House *Shibata House (Iwamura Art Gallery) *Tosa-ya (Crafts Gallery) *: Sake brewery founded in the Edo period.

Access

* 20 minutes' drive south on Route 257 from on the Chūō Expressway * 10 minutes' walk from

Iwamura Station is a train station in the city of Ena, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Third-sector railway operator Akechi Railway. Lines Iwamura Station is a station on the Akechi Line, and is located 15.0 rail kilometers from the terminus of the l ...

on the Akechi Line

References

External links

Iwamura Tourism Association

Hot Iwamura

{{Coord, 35, 21, 58.25, N, 137, 26, 21.35, E, region:JP-21, display=title Ena, Gifu Tourist attractions in Gifu Prefecture

Overview

Highlights

Access

See also

References

External links