Karatsu Kaido Harumachi

Harumachi is a preserved stretch of the Karatsu Kaido, a 100-kilometer Edo-period highway that connected Karatsu in Saga with Kitakyushu. Daimyo lords once traveled this road annually between their domains and Edo. While most of the route has been modernized, Harumachi retains a mix of restored buildings from the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho eras. A soba restaurant now occupies a 150-year-old house, and an antique shop operates from a grand Taisho-era residence. The area is also the birthplace of postwar painters Nakamura Ken'ichi and Nakamura Takuji, whose 1907 childhood home has been converted into a small private museum.