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Kiryu Shinmachi Historic District

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Kiryuweavingsawtooth roofpreservation districtYurinkan

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Kiryu made silk cloth for a thousand years and industrialised early, and the town still shows it. Honcho 1-chome and 2-chome, together with part of Tenjin-cho, are a nationally designated Important Preservation District — but unlike the post towns and merchant streets that usually get that status, what is preserved here is industrial: brick and timber weaving mills, storehouses, and above all the sawtooth roofs, rows of north-facing glass sheds built to flood a loom floor with even light that never moves.

The anchor is the Yurinkan, a group of eleven storehouses built between the Edo period and the Showa era for brewing sake, miso and soy sauce, in brick, timber and plaster. Five of them are now used as event and exhibition spaces, and the adjoining Yanoen serves tea and sells local goods. The district is a working part of town rather than a museum, so mills, houses and small workshops sit side by side and much of it is simply walked past rather than entered.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Streets open 24 hrs | Yurinkan buildings open during exhibitions and events

Closed: District open year-round | Individual venues vary

Entrance Fee

Free | Yurinkan grounds free | Individual exhibitions and events priced separately

Best Season

Year-round | Late autumn and spring are most comfortable for walking

Visit Duration

1.5–3 hours including a meal

Getting There

Access Information

Honcho 1-chome and 2-chome, Kiryu. Around 10 minutes on foot from Kiryu Station or Nishi-Kiryu Station; Shin-Kiryu Station is further and better reached by bus or taxi. The streets are free to walk at any time. Yurinkan grounds free; individual exhibitions and events are separately priced. Parking behind the Yurinkan is available during events.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Look up for the roofs.** The sawtooth mills are the reason this district is designated, and they are easy to walk past at street level because the distinctive profile is only visible from a distance or from the side. Cross to the opposite pavement when you pass one. **The Yurinkan is the one place to go inside.** Eleven storehouses, five of them in use for concerts and exhibitions. What is on varies week to week; the buildings themselves are the constant. The Yanoen next door is the practical stop for tea and a sit-down. **Combine with lunch.** Both of Kiryu's food specialities — himokawa udon and sauce katsudon — have their best-known shops inside or beside the district, which makes a two-to-three-hour circuit of walking and eating the natural way to do it. **Not every building is open.** This is a living district. Many mills are private property or still in use, and there is no ticketed circuit. Treat it as a street walk with a few interiors rather than an attraction with an entrance. **Reach it by the right station.** Kiryu Station (JR and Watarase Keikoku) and Nishi-Kiryu (Jomo Line) are both walkable. Shin-Kiryu on the Tobu Line is a long way from the district — take a bus or taxi from there.

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