Kawagoe, Saitama

is a bell tower originally built by the order of Nihongo|Sakai Tadakatsu|酒井 忠勝 between 1624 and 1644. The present structure goes back to 1894, a year after the Great Fire of Kawagoe. It is a three-story tower measuring 16 meters in height. The tower has been telling time to the city's residents for 350 years and has been deemed as a symbol of the city. Currently, the bell can be heard four times a day (6 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.). [ [http://www.city.kawagoe.saitama.jp/icity/browser?ActionCode=content&ContentID=1105177063363&SiteID=0&ParentGenre=1105175529010 Kawagoe City website] . Retrieved on 5 September 2008]

The Nihongo|Confectionery Row|菓子屋横丁|Kashiya Yokochō is a small backstreet alley where a dozen of stores selling old-fashioned cheap sweets and snacks, most of which are priced at less than 50 yen. The location　was known as a neighborhood where scores of confectionery manufactures lined the alley. Many tourists come here to enjoy the nostalgic atmosphere of the early Showa period. [ [http://www.city.kawagoe.saitama.jp/icity/browser?ActionCode=content&ContentID=1099289610268&SiteID=0&ParentGenre=1000000000102 Kawagoe City website] . Retrieved on 4 September 2008 ]

The Nihongo|Kuradukuri Street|蔵造りの町並み|Kuradukuri no machinami is a section of a street lined with traditional warehouses constructed in a style called Nihongo|"Kuradukuri"|蔵造り and maintains the old outlook of what the place was like during the Edo period. The city of Kawagoe started seeing "kuradukuri"-style warehouses in the aftermath of a great fire that consumed one-third of the old Kawagoe in 1893. Within and beyond the Kuradukuri Street, many warehouses from the 18 and 19 centuries can still be seen. The Kawagoe Kuradukuri Museum is located in a traditional warehouse built in 1893 and allows its visitors to walk around inside and experience the life of Edo merchants. [ [http://www.kawagoe.com/kzs/kuradukuri.html Kawagoe Kuradukuri Museum website] . Retrieved on 4 September 2008 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.city.kawagoe.saitama.jp/ Kawagoe official website] in Japanese
* [http://museum.city.kawagoe.saitama.jp/ Kawagoe City Museum official website] in Japanese

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