Udatsu Townscape

The Udatsu Townscape in Mima, Tokushima, is a well-preserved street of merchant houses from the Edo and early Showa periods, protected as an Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings. The name comes from the distinctive udatsu fire walls that rise between buildings, expensive to construct and therefore a visible status symbol for the prosperous indigo merchants who funded them. Walking the quiet main street, you pass elegant lattice windows, white plaster walls, and dark timber beams. The Yoshida House offers tours of a beautifully preserved merchant home, and the Mima Tradition Museum explains the indigo dyeing trade that drove this small town's prosperity.