Tochigi City’s Historic Storehouse Streetscape

Tochigi City thrived during the Edo period as both a post town on the Nikko Reiheishi Road and a river port linking northern Kanto with Edo. Wealthy merchants built elegant fire-resistant black-plastered shops and white-walled storehouses, many of which still stand today along Kura-no-Machi Oh-dori (the “Storehouse Neighborhood”) Street and the Uzuma River.
You can stroll through this atmospheric district on foot or board a pleasure boat to glide past historic storehouses along the river as the boatman sings and skillfully maneuvers the pole. Some of these old merchant homes are open to the public as museums, like the Tsukada History and Legend Museum, once the house of a merchant shipping timber to Edo; and the Yokoyama Folk Museum, once a hemp merchant’s residence and a bank. If you get hungry, you can try a traditional miso-glazed snack at Abuden Miso, a store that’s been making miso since the end of the Edo era.
In autumn, the streets come alive with Tochigi’s Autumn Float Festival and its Edo-period-style floats, but even if you don’t visit in autumn, you can take a look at these incredible floats on display at the Tochigi Festival Doll Float Museum.