The castle town of Kubota Castle has been hit by numerous fires since the Meiji period and has changed dramatically since then [Akita City, Akita Prefecture]

Kubota Castle and the castle town which were created through meticulous urban planning by the Akita Domain ( Kubota Domain , were destroyed by repeated fires, but most of the buildings were lost. Since the Meiji period, Kubota Castle Senshu Park , and the few remaining remains and the restored front gate give a glimpse of what it was like back then.

Within the castle town, the area around Kubota Castle and surrounded by an outer moat was the inner town where samurai and foot soldiers lived, and outside the outer moat was the tomachi, where townspeople ran their businesses. The role of the outer moat is played by the Asahi River, whose course was artificially altered

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The outer town was divided into sections based on the products sold

The castle town is said to have been completed around 1631, with the first lord of the Akita domain Satake Yoshinobu , developing the inner and outer towns simultaneously. Yoshinobu invited merchants from Tsuchizakiminato (Tsuchizaka Port, Akita City), a bustling port town at the mouth of the Omono River that served as the gateway to northern Akita, to his newly created outer town. The town's distinctive layout is organized by product type, with Chamachi and Omachi, where merchants for the domain lived, as well as Sakanamachi, Yonemachi, Kajimachi, and Teppomachi. Omachi, the center of the town, was lined with kimono merchants selling clothing, while Chamachi was home to general stores and hardware stores selling everything from food to seasonings, paper, and tatami mats. These two towns also housed money exchanges and other financial businesses, making them the centers of the outer town.

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Tomachi was almost completely destroyed in the Tawaraya fire during the Meiji period

Kubota Castle, as well as the inner and outer towns, have suffered numerous major fires. Kubota Castle burned down in 1633, two years after its completion, and in 1650, it is said that as many as 2,000 houses in the castle town were destroyed. In a fire in 1880 (Meiji 13), almost all of the buildings in Kubota Castle, which had been rebuilt, were lost

During the Edo period, Tomachi also experienced several fires that destroyed 1,000 houses, but the Tawaraya Fire Meiji 19) burned down 3,500 houses, leaving the entire town in ruins.

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Geisha houses and tea houses that were burned down in the Tawaraya fire gathered in Kawabata and formed a red-light district

After the Tawaraya fire, Kawabata (Omachi 2-5, Akita City), a corner of Tonomachi. It is located along the west bank of the Asahi River, which flows west of Kubota Castle, and "Kawabata" means riverbank. Merchants who lost their shops in the Tawaraya fire, especially geisha houses and teahouses, moved to Kawabata one after another, and the area became home to many establishments where geisha could be entertained, and it became a red-light district.

Kawabata (Omachi) developed as the center of Akita City from the Meiji period onwards, with the construction of the brick Akita Bank Head Office (now the Red Brick Local Museum, a nationally designated important cultural property) in 1912 (Meiji 45). Today, the place name "Kawabata" no longer exists and the area has been unified as Omachi. Although most of the restaurants and teahouses that once abound are gone, the old Kawabata district is becoming increasingly lively as a downtown area lined with popular restaurants and bars. On the other hand, with the disappearance of the restaurants, the number of geisha, which numbered around 150 in the early Showa period, has dwindled to just a few, a sad state of affairs.

Kawabata/Tomachi Promotion Association <Information>

• Facility name: Kawabata and Tonomachi Promotion Association
• Location: Omachi, Akita City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 018-827-5117
• URL: Kawabata/Tomachi Promotion Association
• access
  • Train: Take the bus from Akita Station on the Akita Shinkansen or Ou Main Line to Kawabata Iriguchi bus stop
  • By car: Approximately 20 minutes from Akita Chuo IC on the Akita Expressway

Google Map

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The brick building is a nationally designated important cultural property. Red Brick Local Museum (former Akita Bank Head Office)

The former Akita Bank head office in Kawabata was used as a bank until 1969 (Showa 44), and has since been preserved and opened to the public as the Red Brick Local Museum

The exterior of the Red Brick Museum is based on the Renaissance style, with Oga stone used for the foundation, white porcelain tiles on the first floor, and red bricks on the second floor, creating a beautiful contrast between red and white. The interior incorporates a Baroque style, and each room, including the staircase, is luxuriously decorated with a different design. The building a nationally designated Important Cultural Property .

The Red Brick Museum displays documents related to the building, traditional Akita crafts such as silver filigree and Yatsuhashi dolls, and works by Akita-born artists such as printmaker Katsuhira Tokushi

Akarenga Folk Museum <Information>

• Facility name: Akarenga Local Museum (former Akita Bank Head Office)
• Address: 3-3-21 Omachi, Akita City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 018-864-6851
• Opening hours: 9:00-16:30
• Admission fee: Adults 210 yen (free for high school students and younger)
• Closed: December 29th to January 3rd
• URL: Red Brick Folk Museum
• access
  • Train: Take a bus from Akita Station on the Akita Shinkansen or Ou Main Line to Kawabata Iriguchi bus stop, then walk for about 1 minute
  • By car: Approximately 20 minutes from Akita Chuo IC on the Akita Expressway

Google Map

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The storehouse that survived the Tawaraya fire, the former Kaneko Residence, a merchant house from the Edo period

the former Kaneko residence is a valuable Edo period building remaining in Akita City (the main house was destroyed in the Tawaraya fire and rebuilt in 1887), and during the Edo period it operated as a pawn shop and second-hand clothing store, and from the Meiji period it dealt in kimonos. Business continued in this building until 1982 (Showa 57), after which it was donated to Akita City. It is a designated tangible cultural property of Akita City.

It is currently on display as part of the Folk Performing Arts Heritage Museum (Neburi Nagashi Hall), an exhibition and resource center established to preserve and pass on Akita City's traditional performing arts and folk events, including Kanto

Neburi-Nagashikan ＜Information＞

• Facility name: Former Kaneko Residence, Folk Performing Arts Museum (Neburi Nagashi Hall)
• Address: 1-3-30 Omachi, Akita City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 018-866-7091
• Opening hours: 9:30-16:30
• Closed: December 29th to January 3rd
• Admission fee: 100 yen (free for high school students and younger), 260 yen for the former Kaneko Residence (free for high school students and younger)
• URL: Former Kaneko Residence, Folk Performing Arts Museum (Neburi Nagashi Museum)
• access:
  • Train: Take the bus from Akita Station on the Akita Shinkansen or Ou Main Line to Neburi Nagashikan-mae or Torimachi bus stops (approx. 1 minute), then walk for approx. 15 minutes from Akita Station
  • By car: Approximately 20 minutes from Akita Chuo IC on the Akita Expressway

Google Map

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The only remaining water source from the Edo period: the Nawa Family Water Source

With the exception of drinking water, most of Kawabata's daily water needs came from the Asahikawa River. For this reason, it is said that each of the inner and outer towns had water pumping points called "Kado." The Nawa family's water pumping point was in use until the Meiji period. Water pumping points were also used to load and unload cargo from the river, and were essential to people's lives, but they have now been almost completely lost due to bank protection construction and other reasons, and this is the only remaining trace.

The Nawa family's water pumping fountain <Information>

• Facility name: Nawa family water pump
• Address: 3-1-6 Omachi, Akita City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 018-824-8686 (Akita City Tourist Information Center)
• URL: Nawa family water pump
• access:
  • Train: Take a bus from Akita Station on the Akita Shinkansen or Ou Main Line to Kawabata Iriguchi bus stop, then walk for about 1 minute
  • By car: Approximately 20 minutes from Akita Chuo IC on the Akita Expressway

Google Map

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