Sanchomachi
Fukui · Obama
35.4920°N, 135.7338°E
Obama was the port where the mackerel and everything else from the Sea of Japan came ashore for Kyoto, and the money that generated built a pleasure quarter. Sanchomachi is what remains of it — about 250 metres of narrow street, red-ochre lattice fronts, two-storey wooden teahouses, and no through traffic. The name comes from the length, three cho, and it was formed from three separate districts.
It is part of the Obama Nishigumi preservation district, designated in 2008, which covers about nineteen hectares of the old town including the temple streets and the merchant quarter. Sanchomachi is the most photogenic part and takes fifteen minutes to walk. It is ten minutes on foot from the station, it costs nothing, and on a weekday you will have it to yourself.
Essential Information
Opening Hours
Street open at all times
Closed: Open year-round
Entrance Fee
Free
Best Season
Year-round | Evening for the lattice fronts
Visit Duration
30–60 minutes | 2 hours with the wider preservation district
Getting There
Access Information
Insider Guide
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