A Quiet Town of Old Merchant Houses | Sawara, Chiba,Japan | Two Hours from Tokyo
Kawagoe isn’t the only “Little Edo”. Sawara is the other one — an Edo-period canal town two hours from Tokyo, with the Onogawa running through the middle of it.
I walked it without a car, and stayed the night in a ryokan on the canal.
No narration, no music — only ambient sound.
CHAPTERS
0:00 The other “Little Edo”
0:34 Along the Onogawa
1:34 A boat through the town
2:39 Kakigori at Hanakanmuri
3:36 Inō Tadataka’s house
4:49 The Inō Tadataka Museum
5:28 The water bridge, and where I stayed
PRACTICAL INFO
Getting there:
Tokyo Station → Sawara: about 2 hours by train. Sawara is on the JR Narita Line.
Sawara Station → the old town: 15 minutes on foot, or take the Katori City Loop Bus, ¥300 flat fare. The weekday and weekend routes are different — check which one runs on your day. There is no change machine on board, so bring coins.
The boat:
Koedo Sawara Boat Tour. ¥1,300 for adults, ¥700 for elementary school children. Every 30 minutes, 10am to 4.30pm, with a break over midday. Cash only, tickets at the counter. Almost everything I say about Sawara in this video, I learned from the guide on that boat.
The festivals:
Each side of the town holds its own festival. Yasaka Shrine on the east bank in July, with 10 floats; Suwa Shrine on the west bank in October, with 14. Together they are the Sawara no Taisai, about 300 years old, and part of a UNESCO-listed tradition since 2016.
The town itself:
In 1996, Sawara became Kanto’s first Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
The teahouse:
Hanakanmuri, in a 180-year-old building that was once a hat shop. Shaved ice made to order with fully ripened local strawberries, ¥1,700. Cash only. It opened at 11.30am on the day I went — later than usual, as they were short-staffed.
Inō Tadataka:
A merchant here for 30 years. At 55 he set out to survey Japan on foot. His house is free to enter; the museum is ¥500, and 2,345 items in its collection have been National Treasures since 2010.
Photography inside the museum is prohibited except where a camera symbol is displayed. Museum footage: collection of the Inō Tadataka Museum, Katori City, Chiba.
The bridge that pours:
Toyohashi, known locally as the Jaja Bridge. The water falls every 30 minutes, 9am to 5pm. One of Japan’s 100 Soundscapes.
Poké Lids (Pokéfuta):
Katori was the first city in Chiba to get Pokémon manhole covers. There are four: outside the Inō Tadataka Museum, at Sawara Station, at Suigo Sawara Ayame Park and at Michi-no-Eki Mizu-no-Sato Sawara.
Where I stayed:
Ryokan Ichiranso, on the Onogawa. ¥5,800, room only. Tatami and futon.
More from the same area:
One Amulet, Two Shrines — Katori Jingu & Kashima Jingu
I hold Level 2 of the Test of World Heritage Study.
Prices and timetables may change. Please check before travelling.
More from the same area:
One Amulet, Two Shrines — Katori Jingu & Kashima Jingu
#vlog #travel #Japan #Sawara #Chiba