In 2020, I visited Tsumago, a post town that retains the historical remnants of Japan. Nominally, I was there to evoke the oldness of the city and walk along the Nakasendo that connects Edo and Kyoto with the feeling of an old traveler.

In the Meiji era, new railways and roads were built, and Tsumagojuku, which lost its function as a post town, continued to decline. Eventually, in the ’40s of the Showa era, the village was preserved and the landscape was restored, and the cityscape of Tsumagojuku was reviewed.

To protect the townscape, the people of Tsumago created a resident charter centered on “do not sell, lent, or break” houses and lands, and while living here, the precious property of the townscape of the Edo period they are passing it on to posterity.