Kanaya-machi (Rows of Latticed Houses)

Kanaya-machi is the historic heart of Takaoka's metalworking craft, established in 1609 when Maeda Toshinaga, lord of the Kaga domain, brought seven metal casters here to found a foundry. The roughly 500-meter stone-paved street is lined with senbon-koshi (thousand-lattice) wooden facades, the signature feature of the district. In 2012 it became the first of Japan's metal-casting towns designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. The craft evolved into the Takaoka copperware industry, and several houses now operate as workshops, galleries, and shops continuing those traditions.