Uchiko historic district — Yōkaichi Gokoku

photo by Reggaeman · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

600 metres of yellow houses, paid for by wax: the first protected district in Shikoku.

About 600 metres of terraced houses with walls of white plaster and pale yellow local earth, built between the late Edo period and the Taishō era by merchants who had grown rich producing vegetable wax (木蝋). In 1982 it was the first district in Shikoku to be designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Among the houses, the narrow side passages called ‘sedawa’ stand out. The nearby Uchiko-za, a kabuki theatre from 1916 saved from demolition by local residents, has however been closed for seismic retrofitting since September 2024, for about four years: the interior cannot be visited while the work is under way.

An old merchant district of Uchiko, in the hinterland of Ehime, made rich by the trade in vegetable wax used for candles and cosmetics throughout Japan.

ℹ️ The street is public and can be walked at any time. The Kamihaga museum (木蝋資料館上芳我邸), which tells the story of wax making, has its own opening hours and ticket, to be checked on the official website. Uchiko-za has been closed for restoration since 02/09/2024 for about four years: check that it has reopened before counting on it in an itinerary.

🚉 Uchiko · 18 min walk

Sources: we-love-uchiko.jp · town.uchiko.ehime.jp

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