Japanese traditional architecture, Shinobi-gaeshi in Jinaimachi

There are many places in Japan with historic streets and preserved architecture, but even among them, the Tondabayashi Jinaimachi makes for a rare sight!

Located just 45 minutes by train from Osaka, Jinaimachi was built in the middle of the Sengoku Period by the Buddhist sect Jodo-Shinshu. During the Edo Period, the town lost its religious importance and became a town of merchants, with 149 stores operating 51 different kinds of businesses, many of them specialized farming products, cotton and sake brewery.

The prosperity also attracted the thieves attention, so the townsmen came up with some ingenious security solutions. You can see in today's photo the shinobi-gaeshi, a kind of sharp bamboo fences installed... on the top of the building!